Rose Coloured Glasses
by Mandi96
Summary: Rose's POV during all episodes of Operation Overdrive, and some in between. MackRose
1. Kick Into Overdrive

**A/N: I'm a Mack/rose shipper who thought it would be fun to write Rose's POV during the season. So here are the first two episodes. I've smushed them together because it's a 2-part episode.**

Most people can pinpoint an exact time when their lives changed. My life changed the moment I picked up that little gold and white box. Professor Harman had been messing with my robot again. He always does that.

**-----PROO-----**

I walked into the University of London, knowing by the screams what had happened. I walked forward with a little smirk on my face. No matter how much Professor Harman messed with my robot he'd never understand how it works. Shoving him out of the way I tapped a few buttons on the keyboard. The robot returned to its normal position.

Turning to Professor Harman I tried my hardest to remain calm. "Professor, next time you want to mess with my robot: please don't." I bent over, reaching for my backpack that I'd accidentally left there the previous night. Suddenly I heard a clattering noise. Looking down, I saw a little gold and white box. Clicking it open, I saw a holographic man standing there. _Impressive,_ I thought._ Holographic messages are still being worked on in most places._

"Hello Rose," the man was saying. "I've read your papers on Advanced Nuclear Robotic Science, very impressive." _Wow, he'd read my papers? Interesting… _"I'm Andrew Hartfort and I'd like to invite you to come to my house this weekend. I've already booked your flight in anticipation of your coming. Everything's arranged. I hope you'll be able to make it."

With that, the little holographic man disappeared. _Well, why not? He's taken the time to read my papers, and I'd like to talk to him about holographic images. As far as I know they're still in the development stage. Hartford, now where have I heard that name before…_

**-----PROO-----**

I walked into the room, surprised to see a group of people there. I'd thought that I'd be the only one there, well maybe a group of scientists, but I could tell just looking and listening to these people that they were not scientists.

"Anyone have a clue why we're here?"

The Chinese guy shook his head.

"Nope," the girl replied. "I got an invitation so I showed up."

"This Hartford guy," the Caribbean guy was talking how, coming around the edge of the pool table. "Must be some wacky gazillionaire. He had me break into his own bank in Brazil."

I started looking around the room. The guy was obviously rich – what, the guy was a thief? I was interrupted in my thoughts by a new person walking in the room.

He was tall, blond haired and blue-eyed. He carried a book in his hands. I looked at him interestedly. He was cute, very cute. _Stop it Rose, you know guys aren't interested in you. As soon as they find out you're smart they practically run away! There's no point in my getting a crush. I'll only get hurt. He's hot though…_

"Hey guys. What's going on here?" Another guy this Hartford character had arranged to be here.

"Join the party," the blond girl said. "We got a message from that Hartford guy just like you." _Darn her, I was going to be the one to say something to him. She's pretty, he'll like her a lot more than he will me. Wait, what's he saying?"_

"Message? What message?" Hmm, if he didn't get a message, then he must live here. My suspicion was confirmed a few seconds later. Through the doors on the right a man came through.

"Welcome everyone." This must be Andrew Hartford. Now we'll get some answers.

"What's going on, dad?" Yup, I'm smart.

Andrew Hartford looked dismayed that his son was here. If he hadn't even told his own son what was going on…

"Hey, Mack," he said, walking quickly over to his son. "We're having an important meeting back here. Can we talk later?" Pushing his son back out of the room, he closed the doors quickly.

"But dad, what are all these people-" he was cut off by the doors. _Darn, I wanted to keep looking at him, I mean. No I didn't. Get a hold of yourself Rose, you'll only get yourself hurt. Remember Andy and John and Evan and Mark and all those other guys you let yourself get attached to. They broke your heart and this guy'll do the same._

"I'm Andrew Hartford. I'm glad you're all decided to accept my little invitation." Should've been 'you've' not 'you're'.

"Before we get started, can I interest anyone in some lemonade? Spencer." He said, turning to the portly old gentleman who had come in with him. Obviously a butler.

"Oh thank you sir, but I'm quite fine." I hid a smile, this guy was awesome.

"For them," Hartford said, looking embarrassed at his servants reply.

"Oh." Spencer said, leaving the room.

**-----PROO-----**

It was a lot to take in, suddenly I had the fate of the universe resting on my shoulders. Well, mine and 3 others. Now I'm standing here getting my DNA re-sequenced. As soon as I walked into the centre I started getting excited. This Hartford guy had way more technology than I'd ever seen before in my life. We were given uniforms, each of us in a different colour. I'm glad I got pink. Ever since I was a little girl I've liked the colour pink. It started when I found out that my name, Rose, was a shade of pink.

"Team thank you for accepting my offer. Your uniforms look good on you. As we speak your bodies physical and mental abilities are being enhanced by a DNA re-sequencer. A Hartford Industries design. As your body adapts, you'll soon be able to do things and know things that only moments ago were thought impossible."

"Are we going to turn into a weird fly or something?" The Chinese guy, _Dax,_ I reminded myself, was saying. Obviously he's watched too many movies.

Hartford gave a little laugh. "Not a chance. This is totally harmless. But you are now stronger and smarter than when you first arrived." _Great, just what I need, to be even smarter._

The re-sequencer was finished and I stepped forward slowly.

"Welcome to your new base. One thing you should know about me is that I would never ask you to do anything that I wouldn't do myself."

"I didn't see you getting your genes scrambled." The blonde girl, Ronny said.

"I'm about to join you right now. I will be the fifth member, the red power ranger." I almost snorted with laughter. _This guy, who was a good 30 years older than us is going to join us in fighting? Yeah right._ I was interrupted in my thought by the elevator doors opening. Through them came Hartford's son. I wasn't able to stop my heartbeat from rising. _Stop it Rose._

"Dad?" He said, walking forward. Hartford turned.

"Mack," _So that's his name. It suits him. ARGGGGG._ "You need to go home." I looked at Hartford for a moment. Why was he being so harsh?

"I am home, technically several feet below my home." At his words my focus returned to him. He was walking around. "What is this place?"

"I'll explain it all to you later." With that, he walked forward, grabbed his sons shoulder and dragged him towards the elevator. We stood there, not knowing what to do.

"If you'll follow me, I'll show you to your rooms." Spencer said, leading up to a set of stairs.

After climbing what seemed to be hundreds of steps we found ourselves in a small room in back of the kitchen. "Follow me," Spencer ordered. We followed him single file until he stopped in a hallway. Here we could hear what was being said in the other room.

"I knew something was going on." Mack's voice came through clearly. "Ever since you got back from your last trip you've been working 24-7. I never see you anymore." My heart sank. I felt sorry for this kid. All the money in the world doesn't matter to you if your parents aren't around. _Where is his mother?_

"I know, I-"

"-messed up big time." Mack finished his fathers sentence. "I understand. And now you're doing something about it, and I want to help. I want to be a power ranger too."

"Why don't you take a little walk around the grounds, get to know the place a little better." Spencer said, tearing us away from this fascinating conversation. He showed us a door that led to a little patio.

**-----PROO-----**

"Rangers!" The call came clearly. These guys were a lot tougher than they looked. _I suppose we'll get used to fighting them. It'll get easier once we're more experienced._ I ran with the other over to Spencer. I was holding my elbow which was sore. _Reminder: more time at the gym and less time in the Library._ Spencer was holding Mack by the back of his jacket.

"We need to leave right away. You three," Spencer pointed to Dax, Ronny and Will. "You'll need to ride by yourselves. You'll find the vehicles in the garage. Rose, you come with me."

"I'm going to the garage," Mack said determinedly. I couldn't help but smile. He was like a little kid. Spencer pulled him back. "You're coming with me too." We ran to a big jeep that was sitting in the driveway. We got in, Mack sulking a little. I smiled again. He was so eager to help. Hartford was already waiting in the jeep.

"Mack! I told you to stay inside where it's safe." He said as Spencer got into the jeep.

"I want to help." Mack said simply. We rode in silence for a few seconds, the other three joining us on the road. "You guys were awesome." Mack said to me suddenly. I smiled at the compliment. "You were really giving to them back there." He was smiling at me, a full;blown smile. It was so brilliant that I couldn't help but smile even wider.

"I'm not exactly sure who was giving what to who, but thanks." He was still smiling at me. "Mr. Hartford, apologies again for doubting your story."

"No worries Rose."

"There may be, sir." Spencer said. _I'm really liking this guy, he's got a great sense of timing._

I leaned over the looked through the seats. "I think we're in trouble." Spencer continued. Mack leaned forward too, our heads inches away from each other. _Calm down, Rose. It's just a guy, he probably won't like you in that way anyways._ My thoughts were brought back to the present danger when I spotted a group of weird gray guys. _They must be Flurious's_ _soldiers._ The jeep stopped suddenly.

"The lizards are behind us, who are these guys?" Will said, his voice rising.

"I don't think they're our welcoming committee." Dax said. I rolled my eyes. This guy HAD been watching too many movies. He had the corny one-liners down pat.

"We're going to the big time." **(A/N: I can never understand what he says there)** "Guys, these are your Overdrive trackers. These are what will morph you into Power rangers." He handed one to me. It looked like it would take hours to figure out all the different things this Tracker could do. Luckily right now, we only needed one. " 'Overdrive Accelerate' is the activation code. Let's do it." He said, holding up a Tracker of his own. I almost laughed out loud. I don't mean to seem rude, but this man was way too old to fight. _Oh well, its his funeral._ I thought, running off with the others.

"I don't know about you guys, but we can't wait for Hartford." _That sentence made no sense, but I know what he means._ "Let's Ranger up!"

"Overdrive Accelerate!" I yelled, my body knowing what actions to make. Must be a part of the re-sequencing. Pressing a button on the side, a screen appearing in from of me with an image of the suit, weapons and everything I'd need to know. _Tomorrow I'll have to take the time to read all the specs and info. _Suddenly I found myself in a ranger suit, pink and white with a logo on the chest and a little skirt. I thought it looked cute.

"Let's do it!" I heard myself say, running forward to fight.

I have to admit, the next few minutes were all a blur. I've never had any martial arts training, and I found myself kicking and hitting like a pro. That DNA re-sequencer was an amazing machine. It was like my mind had stepped back from my body and was watching it do all these amazing things. _Now I know what they mean when they call something an 'out of body experience'._

Suddenly on the horizon a red ranger appeared. I knew instinctively who it was. "It's Mack!" Seeing Mack pull out a weapon made me remember mine. Suddenly on the inside of my helmet a screen appeared with the specs of my weapon. It appeared in my hands. I wasn't able to use it right away though. As soon as I could, I yelled "Drive Geiser!" Going into a flip and starting to shoot. I smiled when I saw them go flying. Mack used a special feature of his weapon to make them all crumble, and then he ran, the rest of us following.

"Back off!" Mack yelled. We watched in horror as the crown was handed to Moltor.

"I'm sorry, sir." Spencer said, "they overpowered me."

"The choice is yours, rangers." Moltor was speaking to us. "Go after me and the crown, or…" lightening flashed from his forehead, our eyes following it until we saw it hit a nearby mountain, which erupted, lava flowing from the top.

"NO!" Mack yelled.

"Or save your city below." Moltor finished. "You wanna be heros? Be heros!" He said. With a flash of flame, he and his lava lizards were gone.

"Dad, what do we do?" Mack said, turning to Hartford. We de-morphed.

"We can't let him get away, we have to go after the crown." Will said heatedly.

"No," Hartford said calmly. "There are people to be saved first."

"But the crown-" Ronny started to argue.

"It wasn't the real crown." Hartford interrupted. He's a smart guy. "Now, you need to split up. Rose, Ronny and Dax, find a way to stop the volcano at the source.

"Let's go!" I said sharply, knowing that no time could be lose. We ran to the jeep and drove up to the volcano.

I held my Tracker up, clicked a few buttons, my fingers somehow knowing which ones to press. "The source of the lava is behind these rocks. Ronny," I started to say.

"Allow me." She said, pushing forward with her DriveClaws. She tore away at the rock, stepping back when the lava started to pour through.

"The heat, it's intense!" Dax said.

"We need to get closer," I insisted.

"DriveVortex!" Dax said, holding out his over-sized blowdryer. "It won't hold forever. Do your thing Rose!"

"DriveGeiser!" I yelled, pointing my GeiserGun (as I liked to call it) and spraying lava, cooling it into rock in seconds. "Come on guys, lets go help Mack and Will."

**-----PROO----- **

"We did what Moltor asked us to do!" Dax was saying. "Be heros!"

"But the bad guys got away," Will said with a confused look on his face.

"There will be another day." _Hopefully not tomorrow, I'd really like to get some research done on out weapons and the Tracker. And spend a little more time with Mack… _"But today you guys were great."

"We were great? Mack was the one who was great." I felt pride run through my veins. He looked pleased, so I continued. "He led us to victory and saved everyone's skin," I turned back to Hartford, my memory returning to when Mack asked to be a power ranger and was refused. "Including yours." I said boldly, hoping that my words would convince the older man to let his son join us.

"Yes. You did a great job Mack." Mack looked happy. _Hasn't his father ever praised him before? Told him he did a great job? But then his father isn't around much, so I suppose Mack takes every opportunity to try and prove himself to his dad. Poor little rich boy…_

"You wanted to be a ranger and you were one," Hartford continued. "Now its time to put away that fantasy." Mack's face fell. He looked as if he might cry. "I'll take that." His father said, taking the Red Tracker out of Mack's limp grasp.

"But, Dad-" Mack said, his eyes filling with sadness. His father was walking away, not listening to his sons plea for understanding.

"I'll be upstairs in my office." Hartford said, ignoring his son.

"You always are," Mack said in a whisper.

"Come, Master Mack." Spencer said gently. "Come to the kitchen and I'll fix you something for lunch." Spencer took Mack by the arm, but Mack pulled away sharply, running up the stairs. We looked at each other awkwardly, not knowing what to say. I started wandering around the room, looking at all the technology, thinking hard about what had just happened.

_What is it with Hartford? His son only wanted to help. Of course, I wouldn't want my kid to be a power ranger, but you have to let them make their own decisions. Today Mack had been great, he'd been a natural leader, knowing instinctively what to do. Had something happened to Mack that made his father more protective of him?_

"Incredible! I thought only the Defense Department had this type of tracking capabilities." Dax was enthusiastic. I smiled. After only a day with these people I was pretty sure I had their characteristics down.

I rattled off some specs about this technology, as I spoke I found myself getting more and more excited. As I ended I realized that everyone was staring at me. "What? Oh, I guess I'm the only one who memorized the data manual."

"Now," Ronny said, leaning over the board. "Where are these amazing vehicles they said we'd be using?" With a few buttons pressed we were looking at a garage filled with huge vehicles.

"Wow!" Ronny said excitedly.

"I think you found them."

"Those are for us?" I said, more for the sake of saying something than actually asking the question.

"I may need to lie down a minute," Ronny said almost breathlessly.

I walked forward and pressed a few more buttons, until I found cameras that showed the house. We saw several rooms, and several outside cams. I stopped pressing buttons when we saw one looking over a brick patio. Sitting on the steps leading down to the grass was Mack. We watched silently as Spencer approached. I saw a button that would activate a microphone, but I decided not to press it. It would be a private conversation. I quickly pressed a few more buttons until we found ourselves looking at pictures of what our rooms would be like.

"Nice, lots of wall space for all my movie posters!" Dax said excitedly.

"A room is a room is a room," Will said shortly.

"Wow, I already know where I'm going to put everything." Ronny said excitedly. "I wonder when we can start redecorating."

Suddenly the elevator opened, revealing Mack and Spencer. Mack ran into the room, a worried look on his face. "He's not down here." Mack said, turning to Spencer.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"He's gone and his office is trashed. Its gotta be those lava freaks who took him." Mack said angrily.

"At least he has his locator watch with him," Spencer said in an attempt at calming Mack down. "That is if he hasn't broken it already."

"I'll program a search pattern starting with the West Coast grid." I turned to Mack. "I can widen it if necessary." Mack nodded and looked down at the floor.

"Don't worry, Mack." Dax said, walking towards him. "We're going to get your dad back."

"Thanks." Mack said with a small smile at Dax. "Wish he hadn't taken Red's Tracker."

"Ah yes," Spencer said thoughtfully. We all looked at him. "The Tracker. What a pity its in your father's office. Locked in a fool-proof safe. Impossible to crack." He said deliberately before turning to Will. "Impossible," he reiterated. Will smiled slowly and started walking towards the elevator.

I walked over to the computer and started programming a search. Mack walked over and joined me. I turned to him as the computer started searching. "We'll find him. I'd tell you not to worry, but that'd be useless." I gave him a small smile which he returned. My heart started beating wildly at his smile. _I can't help it. I've only known this guy for one day._ I sighed softly. _I just hope he breaks my heart soon and I can get over this silly crush._

"What was that sigh for?" Mack asked me softly.

"Oh nothing, just thinking." I smiled at him and he nodded, walking away to talk to talk to Spencer.

"I found it!" I called out excitedly.

"Oh wonder of wonders." Spencer said, rubbing his hands together. "A wonder that Mr. Hartford remembered his locator watch."

"Yes!" Mack said excitedly.

"Rhotuba Island. I've never heard of it."

"It's a remote island is Australasia approximately 465km north of Fiji. Now what I don't know is how we're going to get all the way over there." I looked at the map, thinking hard.

"Well, the fastest way would be to use the Special Hydro-Aero Re-con Craft, which Mr. Hartford likes to call the SHARC." Spencer said, walking forward and pressing a button. Looking at the screen we saw the specs for the SHARC. I scanned them quickly, knowing that my photographic memory would come in handy for when we used it.

"Sweet!" Ronny said, eager to get going. "I'm driving." She said right away.

"Yeah, I'm going too." Mack said determinedly. "Don't try and stop me, Spencer."

"I wouldn't dare, sir." Spencer said.

"Hey hotshot," a voice behind us was saying. We turned to see Will. "If you're going to be coming along, you might need this." He said, pulling out the Red Tracker with a grin.

"My Tracker!" Mack said. I noticed he said 'my,' and I smiled. Already he was becoming attached to it.

Ronny gave a little laugh. "You did it!"

"Was there a doubt?" Will said, throwing the Tracker to Mack, who caught it easily.

"Let's get going!" Dax yelled. "Where is this SHARC?"

"This way," Spencer said, leading us to the garage.

**-----PROO-----**

We returned from Rhotuba Island victorious, triumphant and a little sore. Yup, I'd definitely have to spend more time at the gym.

We were relaxing outside on the patio when Mack came running up to us. "Guys! Dad's allowing me to be the red ranger!"

"That's great, Mack. You're a great leader." I said smiling. I could feel my cheeks heating a little as he looked at me with a huge smile on his face. He was practically glowing.

"Yeah Mack, you're gonna be great!" Ronny said excitedly. My smile faded a little as he turned his smile to her. _Well here it starts. He's obviously going to like Ronny more than me. Why wouldn't he? She's beautiful and I, well I'm just the brainy bookworm. No guy has ever looked at me twice. My intelligence sends them running away._ Everybody was getting up and following Mack. I'd totally missed what they were saying. I got up and followed the rest of them down to the Command Centre.

Spencer was there getting the DNA re-sequencer ready. "Here you go, sir." He said, handing Mack the red uniform. Mack went into the little bathroom off to the side to change. He came out, wearing his uniform proudly. _He looks hot in black… He's taking the jacket off, wow that t-shirt is tight on him. I can see his muscles. They aren't bulky, just large enough so you know he has some power behind those arms. And what nice arms they are… Stop it Rose, as if he'd be interested in you._

My eyes followed Mack as he stepped into the DNS re-sequencer. His eyes caught mine as the machine started. All through the re-sequencing his eyes never left mine. My heart almost stopped beating. _Did this mean anything? Of course not, stupid Rose._ He broke the eye contact as he began to feel the tingling they'd all felt. He stepped out of the re-sequencer with a smile.

"Your DNA re-sequencing is now completed, sir."

"I don't feel any different."

"Well it takes a few minutes for it to kick in," Ronny said. I almost glared at her. _I'm jealous._ I admitted to myself. _But I can't let anybody see, because then they'd know and that would be awful._

"Great to have you on the team," I smiled widely at him, but he wasn't even looking at me, he was concentrating on doing up his jacket. I handed him his Tracker, our fingers touching briefly. The touch was electric. I wondered whether he'd felt anything too.

"I can't believe this is really happening." He said, looking down at his Tracker. He stuck the Tracker on his arm, suddenly getting a funny look on his face. I knew what was happening. He was feeling his power.

He reached out and grabbed Spencer by the collar, lifting him into the air easily. Super-strength. I laughed at Spencer's facial expression.

"When I asked for a raise, this is hardly what I had in mind." Mack grinned, and looked towards the elevators where his dad had just come through.

"I see you've given Mack his enhanced powers." Hartford said, a smile in his voice. "Put Spencer down now."

Mack lowered him carefully onto the ground. "Thank you," Spencer said before walking over to Hartford.

"Listen up, rangers. It's time to get to work. Our enemies have the crown." At this our faces lost their smiles and we became serious. "Now they're going to be after the jewels. It's going to be the mission of Operation Overdrive to find them first."

"Yeah!" we all said, getting ready for the fight of our lives.

**A/N: Review and let me know what you think!**


	2. Paint Cans and Sabre Saws

**A/N: Well I'm a little disappointed at the lack of reviews, but I gather that there aren't many fans of the Operation Overdrive season on this site. Otherwise there would be a lot more Mack/Rose (Rock? That'll take some getting used to, but it's better than Mase. Unless we were to call them the Bookies (since they both read) or something like that. I don't know what I'm talking about, and I think it's about time for me to close this bracket.)**

**Anyways, on with the story! I'm starting this chapter before the events of Underwater World.**

**-----PROO-----**

"This is your room, Rose." Hartford said, gesturing to the pink door. "Your room is a little different because it's at the end of the hallway." Hartford opened the door and I followed him inside. Will, Dax and Ronny had already been left in their rooms; there was just Hartford, Mack and me.

**(A/N: I'd better explain how the rooms are laid out. On each side of the hallway are 6 rooms.**

**On the left they go: Spare room, bathroom, DAX's room, Dax's bathroom, Mack's bathroom, MACK's room.**

**On the right they are: Will's bathroom, WILL's room, Ronny's bathroom, RONNY's room, Rose's bathroom, ROSE's room.**

"You'll love this room," Mack said, following me. "It's one of my favourite views of the grounds. That's one of the reasons my room is across from yours, so I can have the same view." He smiled at me. I can't help but smile back. His smile is so infectious. Still smiling, I got my first view of the room.

It was large. That was the first impression I had. The next thing my eyes caught was a queen-sized mattress. All I'd ever slept in was a single; I'd never slept in anything larger.

Hartford must have noticed my looking at the bed, because he frowned. "Spencer was supposed to make the bed. But I suppose he's busy working on the Zords."

"It's no problem; I've made countless beds before." I grinned at Mack, who was looking at me strangely. I continued looking around the room. My eyes brightened when I saw that one wall was a wall-to-wall bookshelf.

Hartford's watch beeped. "Sir," Spencer's voice came through clearly. "I may require some assistance."

"Okay Spencer, I'm on my way. Rose, I hope you enjoy your room. As I told the others, you're free to make whatever changes you want. We'll be going shopping after lunch today, so if you could get an idea of what you'd like, it would be great."

I nodded to show him that I understood. He left the room hurriedly. Mack and I were alone. It was the first time we'd ever been alone together. Did he feel as awkward as I did?

He cleared his throat. "Here, Rose. Take a look at the view." He walked over to the windows. Two of the four walls in my room had huge windows going from ceiling to floor. Five windows on each wall, I counted absentmindedly. This allowed for plenty of sunlight. I followed Mack. It was then that I realized one of the windows was really a door, cleverly hidden. He opened the door. It led onto a porch made of brick. On the porch were several iron chairs and a few tables. I followed Mack to the edge of the patio, copying him by putting my arms on the railing.

"It's a wraparound porch, so that everybody has access to it." Mack sighed. "I'm really glad you're here." He looked at me with a smile. "I'm glad I have someone to share this with."

I could feel my cheeks starting to heat up. I turned my gaze from his amazing eyes to the view in front of me. It was the first time I'd ever seen it. I gasped in amazement. The grassy lawn disappeared into a forest which went on for miles. The forest turned into a mountain, or rather a chain of mountains. It was an amazing view. Over to the left we could see a lake, amazingly blue.

I could feel Mack still looking at me. I looked at him. "It's amazing." I said quietly.

He chuckled. "I know, and I'm really glad that you'll be sharing this with me." Again, my cheeks heated up. My face was mirroring my name. We stood, looking at each other, content with being silent.

"Hey guys! Wow this view is awesome!" A voice called out, interrupting our private moment. Startled back into the present, I turned quickly back to the view.

It was the rest of them: Will Ronny and Dax. They had obviously been exploring their own porch. It had been Dax who had broken our silent commune **(A/N: I looked it up, it means to communicate intimately :) )**

"Hey guys." Mack called out. Was that, are my eyes playing tricks on me? Does Mack look disappointed?

"So we know where our rooms are, but Mack, where's your room?" Ronny said, taking no time to look at the view.

"This way," Mack led the way down the patio until they reached his own door. He led the way inside.

The room was plain white, no other colour was visible. Rose was curious, why would he have his room so plain? Her eye caught Mack's. He gave her a small smile. Rose walked over to Mack's bookshelf. She realized that his room was laid out in the same way as hers: wall to wall bookshelf, wall to wall windows, queen-sized bed across from the door, and a desk to the right of the door next to the bookshelf. Looking at Mack's room, Rose slowly started to get an idea of what she wanted her own room to look like. She decided to ask Mack for help, rather than his father. _No, it has nothing to do with my liking Mack! I'd just feel more comfortable explaining to Mack than I would to his father. Yeah, I wonder why…_

**-----PROO-----**

After lunch they'd gone shopping. Rose had wandered through the store, not paying attention. Suddenly she shook herself. _Rose, get it together! Get organized. First things first._ She walked over to the paint section. She looked at the brightly coloured board, her cart empty and forgotten. She reached out a hand to the red section, picking out one of each pink card.

"Looks like we both had the same idea." Rose looked up and saw Mack there, a grin on his face. He reached out and chose a few red cards.

They stood next to each other, both looking at their own cards, and occasionally sneaking glances at each others cards. "I give up. Rose, help me!"

Rose laughed. "Aw, does the big strong red ranger need someone to help him choose his favourite colour?"

"Oh shush! We men are helpless at décor." He looked at her pleadingly. "Please, Rose. Help me make my room beautiful."

"Oh darn your puppy dog eyes. You're lucky your eyes are gorgeous, otherwise I wouldn't budge an inch." She froze as she realized what she'd just said. Mack's eyes had widened a little. "I mean, um, well. What I meant was, well," She stammered. What was the matter with her?

"You think my eyes are gorgeous?" Mack said hopefully.

She furrowed her brow. "Hasn't anyone ever told you that?"

He shrugged. "No. My mother died when I was little and since then there hasn't been any woman in the house. Spencer and Dad aren't the type of people to give compliments."

"Well trust me, your eyes are beautiful." She said, hoping that her tone was casual. "Now let's take a look at these paint samples." She busied herself looking at the cards.

"Rose," Mack said "you'll help me with my room?" He said it in a disbelieving tone of voice.

"Of course I will. I know exactly what I want to do with mine."

"I wonder: could I do the same?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean whatever changes you make, I'll make them too. Our rooms are exactly the same. Well not exactly, because we're on opposite sides of the hall, but you know what I mean don't you?"

Rose laughed. "Yeah, alright that'll definitely make what I have to ask for easier. Now, what are your favourite colours?"

"Red, white and black." Mack answered immediately.

"I was planning on making my room pink and white. Why don't we make yours red and white?"

Mack shrugged. "Sounds fine with me."

"Mack," Rose said nervously, "why is your room so bare?"

"Because I'm hardly ever in my room." Mack answered immediately. "Although I'm thinking that now I'll be spending more time in it. It'll be the only place where I can get some peace and quiet."

Rose laughed, "That's true. I've always thought of my bedroom as my home within my home. It's the only place in the house that's truly mine, where no one else can bother me."

"I'd never thought of it that way." He gave a bitter laugh. "My home is a little different. The only person who bothers me is Spencer. Dad's hardly ever around, and when he is he's always in his office working."

"That must have been hard for you."

He shrugged. "It's all I've ever known. I was tempted to try and force him to pay attention to me. You know, by joining a gang, or playing tricks on Spencer. I guess I've seen too many movies."

Rose grinned. "Not as many as Dax has." They both laughed. "Now let's get on with this."

**---------MACKS POV---------**

I watched as Rose looked at the samples. She asked me if I liked a certain colour. I said yes, and she walked away to talk to the man in charge of mixing paint. I stayed in front of the paint board, thinking.

I've never known anyone like her. Well, actually I've never known anybody like any of them. She was so smart, and me? Well I'm average. Okay, the test showed I was above average. I suppose it's because I read a lot. Fiction and non-fiction. She's coming back now. Her eyes are beautiful. And she thinks my eyes are gorgeous! But she'd never be interested in me; I'm not smart enough to interest her.

**(A/N: Sorry, I just want to write a bit about what he's thinking)**

**---------ROSES POV---------**

Mack didn't follow me to talk to the person in charge of mixing paint. I gave him the cards and showed him which ones I wanted. He started up the machines and I walked back to Mack.

"He'll take the paint up to the front. I put them under the name Hartford if you don't mind."

"Perfect. Dad's paying for everything you buy anyways, so that'll work great. Wait, you don't mind that he's paying for everything? I know that some people would get offended."

"No, I'm fine with it. I get to create my dream room, I'm happy with that." I smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Do you like the room? I mean the layout of everything?"

"That reminds me, do you have a sabre saw?"

"Um, I'm sure we do, hold on." He grabbed his cell phone. We were all out of uniform, our Trackers strapped to our wrists. Mack was wearing jeans and a black shirt with red designs on it. I was wearing jeans and a powder pink zippered hoodie over a plain white shirt.

"Hey Spencer, do we own a sabre saw? Okay, where? Umhmmm. Well I need it for re-designing my room. Okay, bye." He hung up his cell phone. "He says we do, it's in the shed; third shelf on the right."

I laughed. "Well that takes care of that then. I'll need a tape measure too."

"Is there any other thing you need? A forklift? Cat?" He was teasing me now, as we headed off to the household section of the store.

"I'll let you know." I smiled at him. We went up and down the aisles picking up quilts, pillow cases and skirting. "That's all I need from this section. I'm sure you provide everything else."

"That's right. Spencer moved everything around so that you have the pink bathroom. The pink bathroom used to be on the third floor. By the way, I don't suppose you've discovered the connecting door to your bathroom?"

"Connecting door? I didn't see any door. I thought I'd have to go outside my room to go to the bathroom."

"Nope," Mack grinned. "That's why I love our rooms. Our bookshelves have a special section that moves out and becomes a door to the bathroom. Neat, huh? I'll show you when we get back."

I smiled; he was like a little kid, getting excited about the littlest things.

His watch beeped. "Mack," his father's voice said sharply. "It's time for us to leave, have you got everything you need?"

"Yup, got everything. Rose is with me, we'll meet you at the checkout." He severed the connection. "Come on, let's go." He took the cart from me, and then stopped. "Um, Rose?"

"Yeah?"

"Which way to the checkout?"

**-----PROO-----**

He looked at me as if I was crazy. Well maybe I was. I'm standing in my room, safety goggles on with a sabre saw in my hands.

"Don't worry, Mack. I measured everything three times. I've got it right. Put your goggles on. Don't want to risk harming those gorgeous eyes of yours." I spoke in a teasing tone. I'm definitely getting more comfortable around him.

As soon as he put in the goggles I started cutting along the lines I'd drawn. Soon, running from floor to about halfway up the wall there was a huge square cut where there were no shelves anymore.

I removed the goggles slowly and saw Mack do the same. "Well, you gonna help me? Or do I have to lug this big bed around myself?"

He grinned. "Just step back milady, and let me do all the work." He picked up the bed effortlessly. I'd forgotten that his enhancement included super strength. He moved the bed into the square I'd cut. It was a perfect fit.

"Wow." He said quietly. "It looks better there. Now you can see the whole view without the bed blocking your view."

"Great, now let's go do your room."

**-----PROO-----**

Our rooms were done after several hours of hard work, interrupted only by Spencer bringing us some sandwiches for dinner. We wouldn't be eating together tonight, each being occupied with their new room. We walked out onto the porch. "Oh good, we're just in time." Mack commented.

"Just in time for what?" He pointed silently to the lowering sun. We stood, leaning on the railing, silently watching the sun lower itself to the horizon. The sky changed from blue to orange, then to black. He took my hand and led me to the chairs. My hand fit into his perfectly. It felt so right for him to be holding my hand. I glanced at him, but he was staring up at the sky. I kept a hold on his hand as one by one we watched the stars come out.

**A/N: Wow, I can't believe I wrote all that, without even making it about the next episode. I thought I needed something that showed Mack and Rose becoming closer. It seemed to me as if I was just going on and on about re-decorating and no one would be interested in it, but I decided to keep it all in because it showed Mack and Rose spending time with each other and becoming friends (or something close ;) )**


	3. Getting to know you

**A/N: Your reviews inspired me to update today instead of tomorrow. I have to admit I've never written any story like this. I think I like it…**

**-----PROO-----**

They hadn't been stargazing very long before Mack's watch alarm beeped. He shifted a little and gave a chuckle. "Time for bed. We've got a long day tomorrow. I'm glad we didn't have to fight today; it was nice spending the day getting to know you. But I'm afraid that Moltor and Flurious won't wait forever to make their next move."

"That reminds me, do you have a gym or place to work out here?"

"Yeah. I'll tell you a little about the house, since you won't be taking the tour until tomorrow. On the ground floor you have the kitchen, living room, dining room and dad's study. On the second floor you have our bedrooms, which are in the West wing. In the East wing is my dad's room, the servant's quarters, meaning Spencer's room, and some more guest rooms. On the third floor we have the recreation room and the gym. We also have a simulator, so you can actually fight and work on your skills. Lastly we have the attic, way at the top. It's neat, because it's one gigantic room the size of the house, with these huge columns supporting the room."

He looked around furtively and leaned closer to me. Inadvertently I found myself leaning closer as well. "There's also a door that leads up to the roof. And on the roof is a little flat area. I'll show it to you tomorrow." He grinned at me, white teeth shining in the dark. "No one knows about it but me. It's my secret spot that I go to sometimes when things are really getting tough."

"Wow, thank you for telling me," I said softly, feeling privileged that he would let me in on one of his most private secrets.

"No problem. I think it's time I started opening up to other people. You see, I go to a public school in town. Dad thinks that a public school education is a better experience than a private school one. The problem is that no one in the public school is very nice to me. They've all assumed that I'm a snobby brat who always expects things to go my way. Of course when they're trying to raise money for something then they're come to me like flies to honey."

"That's terrible," I said, starting to feel angry.

"Well, I guess I've gotten used to it. I suppose it doesn't really matter anyways since I graduated 2 years ago."

"2 years ago?" I said, doing the math in my head. He was 18, that means that he graduated when he was 16. Had he skipped a grade? He should have only just graduated last year.

"After grade eight I was determined to get through High School as quickly as possible. I knew that no one would change towards me. The school in town is was very clique-y. So I took as many classes as I could, and ended up having all I needed to graduate when I was 16. So I did. I'm not super-smart like you. I just worked hard and was determined to get it over with with the best grades I could." His eyes shone in the moonlight, filled with determination and a hint of sadness.

"That's wonderful. I mean, not wonderful that they were mean to you, I mean wonderful that you were able to do what you set your mind to do." _Rose, stop babbling._

"As I was saying, I never had any real friends, friends that liked me for me. I'm really glad you're all here, and I hope that some day we'll be friends, not just because we're co-workers, but because you really like me."

"Oh Mack, I don't know about the others, but I've reached that point already. Working with you today was great, and I think we can say we've reached friend status." She started to hold out her hand to shake his, then realized her hand was still held in his firm but gentle grip. Absentmindedly she ran her thumb over the back of his hand. Wait, did she just hear him gasp?

"Uh, Rose. I've been keeping you here talking when its really time to get to bed. He stood up, releasing her hand. She shivered at the loss of contact. He stood up and bent over, offering his hand. "Milady, may I have the honour of escorting you to your door?"

"Oh thank you kind sir. It will much relieve my mind to have someone to protect me from the perils of the journey." I said laughingly as I accepted his hand. We walked the few feet to the door. He opened the door for me. And I went into the room, my eyes already adjusted to the darkness.

"Will you be able to find your way around?" Mack asked me gently.

"I think I will, yes." I moved along the wall. Suddenly I felt pain surging through my toe. "Ow, ow, ow!"

"Rose! What's the matter?" Mack rushed into the room, putting one arm around my shoulders and guiding me to the bed.

"Nothing, I think I just stubbed my toe." I leant over, rubbing the wounded digit.

"Well here, let me turn this on and those worries will me over." He commented, reaching out a hand and turning on the bedside lamp that I had sitting on one of the shelves beside me.

"Thanks Mack." I said, smiling up at him. My smile was returned with a grin.

He stepped backwards towards the door slowly, half-turning a little. "Well, I guess I'm gonna go, it is quite late after all, I mean it's already-" He looked at his watch. "11:00. Yikes, I'd better get to bed quickly. See ya, have a good night, don't let those bed bugs bite."

I laughed, "good night Mack. I'll see you in the morning."

He nodded and went out the patio door. "Breakfast is at 8:30" were the last words he said to me before shutting the glass door. I could see his shadowy figure moving along the patio until he was out of my line of sight.

I got up off the bed, stubbed toe only throbbing now, and walked over to the windows. Finding a cord I pulled, and dark rose-coloured drapes moved to cover the windows. I then moved to the second wall of windows and did the same. Privacy now assured I started getting ready for bed.

As I slipped between the satin-y sheets and clicked off the lamp, my mind was busy going over the events of the day. He was just being friendly, holding my hand. Wasn't he? With that thought plague-ing my mind I fell into a troubled sleep filled with castles and dragons and a knight in red armour.

**-----PROO-----**

At breakfast the next morning, Andrew Hartford broke the silence that had rested on the table. "I've been monitering Moltor and Flurious's actions, and I'm almost certain that they won't try anything today. However when we're not out fighting there are several other things that need to be done. I've made up a little schedule for each of you. Spencer." He gestured to us. Spencer walked around giving each of us our own sheet of paper.

Here's what mine said.

8:30-10:30 Breakfast

10:30-11:30 Chores

11:30-12:30 Personal training

12:30-1:30 Lunch

1:30-3:30 Group training

3:30-4:30 Zord training

4:30-6:00 Free time

6:00-8:00 Dinner

8:00-11:00 Free time

11:00: LIGHTS OUT

"The schedule, of course, will be dropped at a moments notice if an attack comes. When you get back you'll be able to have free time for the rest of the day."

"Um, Mr Hartford, no offense, but is all this really necessary?" Ronny was asking.

"Yes Ronny. In order to remain in top fighting condition you need to be training every day. This training will come in handy when fighting."

"What's group training? I don't do well in groups. I work along." Will was saying.

"Sometimes in battle more than one of you will be attacking the same monster. With group training we'll practice fighting techniques and styles. This group training will mostly be for when you're in your ranger form. Personal training is for when you're not in ranger form. You want to delay morphing for as long as possible."

"Why? I think we look pretty cool in our uniforms." Dax said excitedly.

"Because when we morph we can't use our genetic enhancements." I spoke up.

"That's right, Rose. Those enhancements can be really useful when fighting. That's another thing that personal training will do. It will allow you to practice you genetic enhancements until you can do them flawlessly and maybe even push the limits and expand what you're able to do."

"That's awesome! I can't wait to start. Wait, my personal training isn't until 8:00. Oh man!" Dax said in a disappointed tone of voice.

"Mr. Hartford, what are our chores?" I asked.

"Well, our only servant is Spencer, and that was fine when it was just Mack and I, but now that there are more of you you'll be expected to help. It's the least we can do for Spencer, who does so much for us. Besides, Spencer needs more free time to work on our Zords and other equipment. Anyways, I have a list of chores for you."

"Ronny, you'll be in charge of dusting and vacuuming the main floor.

Dax, you get window cleaning, outside only though.

Will, you'll be mowing the lawn.

Mack, you can help Spencer prepare meals.

Rose, you'll be helping Spencer with the Zords and other things that might arise.

"Wait, wait, how come Rose gets the easy job?" Dax complained.

"I tried to hand out the chores with consideration for your special abilities. Ronny, your super-speed will make sure that vacuuming isn't a long and arduous task. You might have to take more time with dusting, however. Dax, your super jumping ability will be very useful for cleaning the windows on the second, third and fourth floors."

"Hmmm, never thought of it that way."

"Will, I'm sorry but mowing the lawn has nothing to do with your enhancements. However, you'll be able to listen to your music while doing it, so that's an added bonus. Mack, you're in charge of helping with meals because I know you'll be able to refrain from eating everything before it's on the table. And Rose's background in Nuclear Robotics will come in handy when working on the Zords. Of course you'll all be responsible for your own rooms and bathrooms. Rose, you found the door to the bathroom?"

The others looked at me strangely, but I calmly replied: "Yes, Mack showed me."

"Good. Well everybody, time to get to your chores."

**-----PROO-----**

I had found my way to the gym after spending an hour working out bugs in the Zords. I walked into the gym to see Mack lying on a bench, the bar he was lifting had several large weights on it. Mack wasn't even breaking a sweat, though he looked up when I came in the room.

"Hey Rose." He returned the bars to the rack and stood up. My heart started racing at the sight of him sweating. _Calm down, Rose. He's your friend now, remember? And that's all you're ever going to me most likely._

"Hey Mack. Looks like you were having no problems lifting that."

"Yeah, I'm trying to see if there's a limit to what I can lift. Could you help me for a bit? I know I'm cutting into your personal training time."

"No, it's not problem."

"Great, you should probably get changed into your workout gear." He gestured towards a row of lockers. Each locker had a number on it. I walked over to the enormous 5 and opened it. Inside were a pair of black sweatpants, a light pink tank, the kind with thicker straps. At the bottom of the locker were a pair of cross-trainers.

I looked over at Mack and saw that he was wearing the same: black sweatpants with a red wife-beater. "The changing room is over there," he said, gesturing to a door. I grabbed the sweats and shirt and hurried to get changed. I stepped out of the changing room and marvelled that the clothes. They fit me perfectly.

"Okay, that's just creepy." I muttered.

"What is?" I jumped. I hadn't realized that he was so close to me.

"You startled me. How on Earth did your dad know what size I wear?"

Mack shrugged. "It was probably Spencer. He's the one who bought the clothes. After I picked them out, of course." He grinned. "I've been working out for years, so I guess Spencer just decided to get the rest of you what I usually wear." I walked back to the locker, putting my uniform and clothes I wore under it in my locker. I grabbed the trainers and put them on.

"Okay, what did you need help with?"

"Some way to see if I can lift every single weight in here."

"Well we could pile them up. Here let's get started." I walked over to the biggest weight and started to lift it. I couldn't budge it an inch, although I tried several times. I noticed Mack watching me with a little smirk on his face. "Are you going to help?"

He grinned and picked up the weight effortlessly. "Here, I'll just get all the heavier ones, shall I?" Having said that, he moved around the room, picking up the largest weights and balancing them on top of one another on his hand, the weights looking like an extremely thick waiter's tray. I laughed a little at the thought.

"Hey, Invisigirl, I think you can start helping me now." He'd shifted the weights around so that there was an even amount of weight on each arm. The next few minutes were spent with me piling up weights on his arms."

"Um, Mack?" I said, standing on a bench holding a weight.

He moved his arms outwards and his face appeared between the black columns. "Yeah, Rose?"

"I, uh, I can't reach any higher." Darn me and my shortness! I blame my parents for being short. Then again if they'd married someone tall I wouldn't even exist.

"That's okay, Rose. There are as light as a feather to me, I think we can safely assume that I can lift the rest of them as well." He laid the weights on the ground. "How much weight was I carrying?"

"About 5,000." I whispered, in awe of his strength.

"Nice, that's good to know." He started putting the weights away. "Thanks for helping me, Rose. If there's anything I can do to help you train-"

"Actually there is. I've been practicing my own enhancement, and I think I've made some progress, but I want to see how far it can go at this point."

"Sure," Mack agreed easily. I could see the puzzlement in his eyes. He was wondering how he could help me with my invisibility.

I grabbed his arm, it was warm and somewhat thin, but I could feel the strength that was beneath the surface. _Focus, girl._ I turned myself invisible, shut my eyes and concentrated really hard.

"Rose, what are you-ahh! Where are my feet?" Mack was looking down in wonderment as slowly, inch by inch the invisibleness took over his body. When it was over and we were both invisible, I realized that we could see each others outlines, even though to other people we were completely gone.

"Rose, this is amazing!"

"I wasn't sure if I could do it, I've only practiced on little things like my lamp and books."

"This feels so cool! We're going to have to do this again."

I was beginning to feel the strain so I closed my eyes and concentrated again. Slowly Mack began to solidify until he was completely invisible. It felt as if a weight had been lifted from my mind. I turned myself visible and found Mack staring at me.

"That was incredible!"

"Yeah," I whispered, holding a hand to my aching head. "I'll have to practice it a bit more until it comes easier."

"Did it hurt?" Mack asked me softy.

"A bit, but I'll just take some Advil and I'll be fine." I smiled at him.

Mack's watch beeped. "Sir, it's time to start preparing lunch."

"Be right there, Spence." Mack said, closing the communication. "Well Rose, looks like duty awaits me. See ya at lunch."

I looked around the gym. What was I going to do first?

**A/N: Well there you go: more bonding. The next chapter will be the third episode: Underwater World. I promise! Mack and Rose are definitely friends now, although they both want it to be more (you can tell that from my little Mack's POV in the second chapter). Will it ever progress into something more?**


	4. The Underwater World

**A/N: I finally figured out when to put italics and when not too. I just thought I'd let you know that italics are things that Rose tells herself. Her thoughts and ideas will just be regular because it's her POV.**

"Guys, I need you to go to town to pick something up for me. Here are the details." Andrew Hartford came into the rec room where we were all doing our own thing. Mack and I were reading, Will and Ronny were playing pool and Dax, well Dax was doing whatever it is Dax does.

Hartford handed me the list and I glanced at it. "Oh I've heard of this book. Would you mind if after you're done I take a look at it?"

"No I don't mind. Mack has a card he can use for when you buy it. Good luck." With that he left the room.

"Well, the sooner we leave the sooner we can get back." Ronny said.

**-----PROO-----**

"It's a waste of manpower. Why would Andrew send all five of us to grab a single book when I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself?" Will had been complaining all the way there and now that we'd gotten the book he was complaining even more.

"Think of it like a field trip." I said, looking up from the book. It was as interesting as I'd heard. I couldn't wait to read it when we got back.

"Yeah, there's one thing I know about my dad; he's got a reason for everything." I heard Mack say as I returned my attention to the book. Reading and walking at the same time isn't hard. I'd mastered it a long time ago.

"Hey guys, check this out!" I looked up to see Dax perform a number of flips. I smiled indulgently. Dax may be a year older than I am, but in some ways I am much older than he is. I suppose it's the result of skipping High School to go straight to University. I never had much of a chance to goof off and be a kid. Maybe that's why I'm attracted to Mack (_no I'm not) _because he's fun-loving and funny. Yet amongst the fun there is someone serious in there when he chooses the right time to bring it out.

Dax finished off his performance with an amazing flip. He bowed, and we all clapped.

"That was awesome!" Ronny yelled. I smiled in agreement. It felt good to just relax and hang out with a group of people. I've never had much opportunity to do that.

"Nice!" Mack said with a huge grin on his face.

All of a sudden, in the midst of our clapping Will walks away, morphing into his Black Power Ranger suit. We ran after him.

"What is he up to now?" Ronny asked breathlessly.

"No idea, he must have seen something with his 'telescopular' vision." I panted. Finally we saw Will a few feet in front of us. He had obviously just helped that man.

"Hey! What's the big idea, running off without us?" Ronny complained.

"Sorry guys, but I'm used to working alone." Will said with a smirk. "What can I say, I'm a one-man show." He walked off.

"That's quite a dangerous thing to believe." I said quietly as we walked as a group to the jeep. "Working alone makes you vulnerable."

"Yeah, no man is an island." Mack commented. I looked at him in surprise. He noticed my look. "John Donne is one of my favourite poets." He explained.

"You don't seem like a Donne fan to me." I tried to explain my confusion.

"Well I actually started reading him by accident. I was in my dad's library and was reaching for a book and grabbed a book of his poetry instead. I saw right away it wasn't what I was after, but it looked interesting so I decided to give it a try. Long story short: he's one of my favourites."

"I'm a Robbie Burns fan myself." I said as I got into the jeep. Will, Ronny and Dax had brought their motorbikes along so it was just me and Mack in the jeep. We talked all the way back about poetry.

The more time I spend with Mack to more amazed I am by him. He's not at all like other boys our age. Mack was handling the jeep expertly as he made the tight curve into the garage. The rest of the rangers were waiting for us.

"Took you long enough," Ronny grinned at Mack. My heart sank suddenly. _Don't be silly, Rose. You're friends, that's all._

"What can I say, traffic was heavy." Mack replied with an answering grin. Everyone laughed and I gave a half-hearted smile. "Let's go get this book to dad."

"I'll take that." Will said, taking the book from out of my hands. I wasn't going to push the matter. If it was so important for him to be the one to give it to Hartford, so be it.

We walked to the garage doors. When we entered the Command Centre Hartford was already there with a book in his hand. _That books looks a lot like the one we bought this afternoon. It can't be though, because it didn't make any sense._ Will walked forward, unconsciously leading the group.

"Good, you're back!" Hartford greeted us enthusiastically. "While using the satellites to comb the ocean floor, I think I found something of interest."

"That's the same book!" Will said, looking at the book in Hartford's hand. Now that we were closer I could see that it was the same book. That made absolutely no sense. "You sent us to get a book you already have." Will said with a laugh.

Hartford looked like he was searching for an excuse. The one he came up with was terrible. "I-uh-I thought I'd misplaced it." Uh huh, yeah, whatever makes you sleep at night. "Thanks anyways." He said, taking the book from Will's hand. "Good job."

"What did you find, dad?" Mack's eye had been caught by the screen, and my eyes looked up too. What I saw erased any ideas about the two books from my head.

"Atlantis?" All I could do was stare in wonderment. One of my hobbies is legends and myths. That's why I knew so much about the Corona Aurora and other things like that.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I think so. Look at this." Hartford walked over to the globe that was sitting in the middle of the room. "If the tele-imagery is correct, these ruins are over ten thousand years old!"

"So what? My socks are that old." Ronny said flippantly. I could have punched her, especially when I saw Mack smiling at her joke. I tried to explain what was so wonderful to me.

"Atlantis was the domain of Neptune, god of the sea."

"And a possible resting place for one of the jewels." Hartford interrupted me. "I'm getting a very faint jewel signature here." He pointed to a glowing dot on the screen.

"Looks like we're going swimming," Dax joked.

"I'll go alone it'll be much faster." Will said arrogantly.

"Hey, no way hotshot. I'm gonna come too." Ronny practically glared at Will. No matter what anybody said I was going. Atlantis is one of my favourite legends, and now it's been found! I couldn't wait to get going.

"Enough. You'll all go together, it's dangerous out there Will. You need your team." Hartford declared.

"But-" He protested

"Will, you don't work alone anymore." Hartford reminded Will. "If you find something down there use your Tracker's sensory program to source the jewels. I'll fuel the SHARC, and a flight plan is programmed into the mainframe. Stick to the flight plan, you don't want Flurious or Moltor following you."

I nodded. The flight plan was probably programmed in order to stay out of their regions so that they wouldn't be able to even tell we were on the move.

Ronny was the first of us to move. We jogged over to the garage and entered the SHARC. Wait; was Mack's hand on my back guiding me up the ramp? _No, it's just your imagination. See, both his hands are at his side, even if you did think you saw one of them moving before you got a clear look._

Ronny and Will automatically assumed the pilot chairs, separating them from the rest of us in the back.

"Why don't we play a game?" Mack suggested to Dax and me.

"What game?" Dax asked excitedly.

"It's not like we can play license plates or any other travelling game like that," I laughed, getting a laugh from Mack as well.

"Okay, maybe a game isn't a good idea. I know, why don't you tell us all about Atlantis?"

"Yeah, that would be awesome!" Dax exclaimed.

"Well a long time ago there was a city named Atlantis. It was ruled by Neptune, the god of the sea. It was situated on an island, rich with minerals and other resources. The city was prosperous, as long as the people obeyed their ruler. As long as they were in tune with the divine things were fine. But gradually human nature became stronger and stronger. People were no longer listening to their god Neptune. Finally the entire city was corrupted by greed. They sought to expand their territory and built a huge naval force. They began to attack neighbouring countries and brought other under their cruel regime, making them servants. Only the Athenians were able to defeat the Atlanticans with help from their gods. Once Atlantis was once again subdued and forced back onto their own island, the gods released their anger, causing an earthquake that swallowed up the entire ocean into the sea."

"Where did this legend begin?" Mack asked. I was glad that he asked, because it showed that he was interested.

"Plato first mentioned it in one of his dialogues. He also mentioned that the part of the sea where Atlantis once was is now un-navigable. Many people believe that the Bermuda Triangle is where the city of Atlantis once was. Others believe that Santorini was once Atlantis. Looks like they're both wrong." I grinned, excited that I was finally going to see Atlantis.

**(A/N: Okay, I did a bit of research on the internet about Atlantis and this is generally what most accounts say. Personally I don't believe in the gods, so whatever. I tried to find an account that fit what Rose said previously about Atlantis being the domain of Neptune.)**

We were silent for a while, thinking about Atlantis. Suddenly Dax started talking.

"Mack, what's the phone number for your house? I mean what do I give people for them to contact me." As Dax spoke he curled his middle thee fingers in, extending his pinkie and thumb, creating a 'phone.'

"Um, your phone number should be written on your phone." Mack imitated Dax's hand gesture. "The phone in your room I mean. Didn't you see it written there? You saw it, right Rose?" He turned to me.

"I don't know, I'm too busy thinking about how weird it was that you both did this-" I copied their gesture, "whenever you said the word phone." I laughed and they laughed with me.

"I'll check it out when we get back." Dax smiled widely at me. When Mack saw Dax's smile to me, he turned abruptly to look out the window. "So, what game can we play?"

I shook my head slightly, a smile on my face. "You mean you're incapable of plain conversation?" I teased.

Mack turned to smile at me. "I'm fine with conversation." He pointed at me. "What do you want to talk about?"

I laughed and gave him a smile. "Whatever you-" I was cut off as the SHARC stopped its smooth flight and jerked forward. _Stupid Will's gone off the flight plan. Now there's a possibility that Flurious or Moltor will find out what we're up to! Stupid guys…_

"Will!" Even from the back I could hear Ronny's plea.

"We are now free to fly around the world!" Will yelled.

"Oh this is such a bad idea." Ronny said. There should really be more girls on this team. We're the only ones with any sense.

The ride became a bit smoother as Will got adjusted to flying, but it was still bumpy. If I could have rolled my eyes I would have. So far, while being a great fighter, Will wasn't being a good team member. _How long will it be before he realizes we have to work as a team?_

I looked out the window. "We're over the Himalayas! Will do you have any idea where we're supposed to be going?"

"Um, okay so I might have gotten myself turned around a little. No big deal. I can fix it." The SHARC began to turn. All of a sudden from out of nowhere a blizzard hit.

"Oh no! Flurious must have been hiding in the Himalayas and seen us!" I reasoned.

"Where'd this storm come from?" Will yelled. Again, if I could have rolled my eyes I would have. _Men, they never listen._

"Hang on back there?"

"Do we have a choice?" Dax yelled back to Ronny. I couldn't help smiling a bit. Even with this crazy ride Dax still delivered his corny one-liners.

"This storm is so random!" Will yelled.

"Didn't you hear Rose?" Mack yelled. "Flurious must have seen us." I smiled back at Mack, my teeth jarring a little. _He was listening to me! Wait, that doesn't mean anything. But Dax is closer to me and he didn't hear what I said._

"Yeah, Rose figures he's hiding in the Himalayas." Dax screamed up to Will. _Scratch that lovely thought._

"Here we are!" Will hollered. Oh my, was he going to try and land this thing?

"Enough is enough, Will!" Ronny said firmly and pressed the autopilot button. Apparently just in time. We had just barley levelled off enough to make the landing.

We all sat back and sighed with relief that it was over. I glared up at Will, who couldn't even see me. He turned his head a little. He was smiling! I narrowed my eyes.

"Will, you could have gotten us killed. What's more, Flurious now knows we're here, and he'll follow us." I stomped down the railing, too mad to stay. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. I swear, what happened next was pure reflex! I turned to see Mack lying on the sand, eyes closed in pain.

"Oh Mack, I'm so sorry. It was just a reflex, I'm so sorry, are you alright?" He wasn't moving. Oh no, had he landed so hard he's hurt his spine? Was the sand hard enough to give him a concussion? I knelt down next to him and put my hand on his hair. "Mack, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-" I reached my other hand to feel for his pulse. I could hear the other's shouts.

"Rose went this way, Mack was following her. See, here are their footprints." Luckily they were still on the soft sand, and we were somewhat hidden by a rock. _Oh no, I can't face them yet. What can I do?_ An idea struck me, and I grabbed Mack by the wrist. Slowly I turned both of us invisible.

"Hey, the footprints end!" I could hear Dax yelling, just out of sight.

"Of course, the sand is so hard that it doesn't leave footprints." I watched as the passed the rock which hid us from their view. I watched them go into the forest.

"Shouldn't we have stuck together? Ya know, because it's so dangerous out here?"

"Mack!" I cried, turning around to see his invisible eyes open. With the shock of 'seeing' him, I dropped the invisibility. "You're okay!"

"Yeah, thanks to the enhanced DNA. Man you throw hard, girl!" Mack teased me laughingly.

"That's what you get for sneaking up on me." I smiled cheekily at him and started talking to follow the others.

"Rose," Mack was walking beside me know. He was speaking, nervously? _Must be my imagination._ "Do you like Dax?"

"Of course I like Dax. He's a very likable person. Why do you ask?"

"No, I mean _like _him, like him."

"What? Oh gosh no. He's not my type." I laughed, thinking of me and Dax as a couple. **(A/N: Sorry to those DaxRose shippers, but this is a Macrose (I thought that up by myself: because they're so sweet together, lol) so live with it!)**

"Oh," Mack said as he held a vine out of my way. There are advantages to being tall. "What's your type?"

_Why does he care? How on earth can I describe him without him knowing that it's him?_

"Well for starters he can't be turned off by the fact that I'm smart. It happens a lot." I sighed, a bit bitterly.

"Why don't guys like smart girls? I'd much rather be with a smart girl than one who has no idea what a two-syllable word is." My heart beating a little fast. He likes smart girls!

I chuckled a bit at his description. "You'd be surprised. My theory is that most men feel at a disadvantage when talking to a smart girl, and they don't like that."

"I definitely know a few guys like that. So what else do you look for in a man?"

"One of the most important things is-"

"Hey guys! We've been looking everywhere for you." In front of us appeared Dax. He frowned slightly at Mack, who narrowed his eyes in return. _What is that about? An IQ of 175 and I still have no idea what's going on when it comes to men..._

"There you are. We were halfway across the island!" Ronny's voice was irritated as she joined us.

"Come on guys, let's get going. We don't have much time." Will's voice came from ahead of us. We started running through the jungle. Suddenly stumbling through the vines and roots into a sandy clearing, we paused for a moment to catch our breath.

Will was talking to Spencer, asking him to send the Zords. I was busy looking at the surrounding area.

Dax stumbled up to Will. "The next time you decide to take a detour, you might want to tell the rest of us?" He fell over, obviously acting.

"Yeah, now we have to rush everything." I pointed out.

"Rose, just be quiet. It happened, I'm sorry, let's just forget about it and get on with the mission."

"Hey, don't talk to her like-" Mack started to say angrily.

"He's right, Mack. Let's just get on with the mission. Forget about it." I turned on my Tracker's scanner and scanned the surrounding area. "It might help if I was higher. I'm going to climb that tree over there." I pointed to the tallest tree on the island and started to make my way over to it.

"Wait, Rose. There's no point in you doing that." Dax put a hand on my shoulder to stop me, leaving it there for a while. _Oh no, is that why Mack was asking me if I liked Dax, because he has a crush on me? Oh I hope not. He's nice, but he's really not my type, as I was telling Mack. Mack, who IS my type. Wait, don't go there. He may have said he likes smart girls, but smart isn't the same as genius now is it?_ My thoughts were interrupted by Mack.

"Yes, Dax. It would be a lot easier if you were to just jump up the tree. Then you can give us the general location and we can get closer." Mack was taking on the role of the leader. I mean, he is the leader, but he was starting to act like one, thinking about his team's strengths and skills, using each of them effectively.

Dax jumped to the top of the tree we could barely see him, the sky was so blue. He spoke to us through our Trackers. "Hey Rose," Mack bristled a bit hearing him address me instead of him, the leader. "You were right; I can see where it is from here. If you go back to the SHARC and head left its a few miles up. Hey, the Zords have arrived; they're waiting by the SHARC.

"Great, so we're backtracking." Will complained. "Such a waste of time. Rose, if you hadn't gone storming off-"

"Will," I sighed, tired of dealing with him. "Let's just get on with the mission, okay?" I started to walk through the jungle. Suddenly I found myself being lifted through the air.

Then I found myself on the ground once again, the SHARC a few feet away. I turned and saw Dax there. He grinned. "Thought I'd give you a hand." He explained, smiling hopefully at me.

"Look, Dax." How on Earth was I going to tell him? "Dax, you're really nice and everything, but I think we're better off as friends." Suddenly worried that I'd misinterpreted everything I started babbling. "That is, I mean I got the impression. Was I wrong? I thought-"

"You're right. Sorry. I'm not used to being around a lot of girls. I've been around tons of actresses and stuff, but never just ordinary girls. I suppose it went to my head and I started imagining feelings that I never really had."

"You're sure? I mean, you're not just saying that?"

"No I mean it. We're better friends." He smiled a genuine smile at me and I was satisfied. I grinned at him as the rest of the rangers burst through the bushes.

"Sure, Dax, give HER a ride." Ronny grumbled.

"Hey, she doesn't have your super-speed, and guys are made to tough it out." Dax explained, putting an arm lightly around my shoulders, just like he'd done after out first mission.

Ronny blushed a bit. "I never even thought of using my super-speed."

Mack was staring intently at Dax's arm and Will was getting impatient.

"Mack, lets get on with it!"

"Oh, right. Sorry, must have zoned out for a bit. Okay, Dax, you said to the left?"

He led the group, holding out his scanner in front of him. "Wait, there it is! It's out in the ocean."

"Well obviously, it was an island." I pointed out. Mack blushed a bit.

"That's me, Captain Obvious." He said with a laugh, but I could see deep in his eyes he was still worried about something. This was definitely something to discuss later. "Anyways, Rose, we'll have to take your submarine." I nodded. "And two other rangers to actually go into the ruins."

"Wait, you mean I can't go?" My heart fell.

"No, you have to pilot your Zord."

"I'll go alone. It'll be much faster." Will said for the third time that day.

"Ronny, go with Will." Mack ordered.

"But Mack," Will started to protest.

"Just in case something happens." Mack said firmly.

**-----PROO-----**

"Hey, we must be getting close." Ronny said. They were distracting me. I'd never actually driven the Zord underwater. It was a whole different experience. Suddenly my searchlight uncovered the ruins.

"There it is good job, Rose." Will patted my shoulder. He was trying to make amends for his former behaviour to me I supposed. Good, I'd act as if nothing has happened. It'll show him that I forgive him.

"I'll take it from here." Or not… Will had put a hand on the wheel. Oh no he didn't!

"Uh, nobody drives my Zord."

"Okay, have it your way," his voice was filled with resentment. I sighed softly. Would he ever change?

"I'll engage the Hydro Claws." I informed my passengers.

"See, Rose knows." I could hear Ronny talking to Will and I smiled. Girls gotta stick together.

"Rose knows books." My heart sank. Was that what they thought of me? Well, I'd show him! I stopped listening and concentrated on manoeuvring my Zord.

"Look at the size of that thing!" Ronny said as her yellow-covered head blocked my view. I pushed it out of the way.

"Be careful guys." Mack voice came through the communicator. "Those ruins are over ten thousand years old." _Nine thousand, but who cares?_

"You don't want to upset Neptune, the god of the sea."

"Or anyone else for that matter," Ronny teased Will.

"Please, I don't believe in myths." Will said arrogantly.

"Remember guys, you're looking for the Great Temple. The jewel should be inside." Mack brought us back to the task at hand. I moved my searchlight, looking for anything resembling a Temple.

"That must be it!" I cried, extending the claws to move away some stones. I so know how to use this thing. You don't see me going into Will's Zord telling him how to run things.

"Will, take Ronny with you." Mack reminded him.

"Right," Ronny indicated she'd heard.

"In case something goes wrong." Mack forestalled Will's coming argument. I smiled, Mack was becoming really good at reading the team.

Will and Ronny headed off to explore the ruins. "Mack, I'm a little worried about Will." I told Mack.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine. He's just used to working alone." I could picture Mack's grin as he cracked that joke.

I watched them go wistfully. "Hey Mack, do I have to sit here and wait for them? Can I do some exploring?"

"Go ahead Rose, but keep an eye out for them." I gave him thumbs up, since he couldn't see my smile.

I guided my Zord around the ruins, trying to imagine what that place must have looked like in all of its glory. Before they turned 'evil' of course. "It's amazing." I whispered.

"I wish I could see it." Mack told me.

I laughed. "Too bad I can't take pictures with this tracker of mine."

"I'd send you a camera but Spencer must have forgotten to equip the ranger suit with one."

"Rose, maybe you could modify the Tracker to take pictures." Dax suggested. "You're really smart and know robotics and stuff. I'm sure you could do it."

"It's an idea. I've already made several additions to mine-" Our conversation was interrupted by what seemed to be a huge earthquake. The sea was moving around me, making it difficult to keep the Zord still.

"Mack!"

"Rose, what's happening?"

"The temple is shaking and moving."

"I feel an earthquake too."

"And me," Dax chimed in.

"Uh, oh, I think they're in trouble."

"The whole place is rising up." Dax noticed.

"Get me out of here!" I said frantically. I could barely keep the Zord under control.

"There's nothing I can do, Rose. You have the underwater Zord."

Suddenly I felt my Zord moving up fast. I looked down, and saw that the sea floor below me was rising as well. I broke the surface of the water roughly and found myself above the sea. There was nothing I could do. Then I was rising even more. I looked up and saw that Dax had a hold of me with his Zord.

"Gotcha," he said. I could hear the smile in his voice. He moved me out into the open water again.

"I'm going in." Mack declared as he started his Zord. I watched through my window as the big red Zord rushed along the land bridge to the Temple. "I thought the island was supposed to be a circle."

"I never told you that!" I said confused.

"Um, okay so maybe I have a thing for legends and myths too. Sorry, Rose. I should have told you, but you seemed so eager and you enjoyed explaining the history."

"Ah, it's okay." So the red ranger was interested in myths as well? _Don't dwell on it, Rose._

"You like him, don't you?" Dax's voice came over the communicating screen.

"Of course I like him, Dax. And we shouldn't be talking about him when he can hear us," I chided gently.

"He can't I made sure of that. I found a button on the panel which made it so you can talk directly with someone. And I meant, you _like _him, like him, don't you?"

That was twice in one day! Maybe I should read my horoscope more often.

"I don't know him that well. We're just friends at the moment." I said, hoping that would stall him.

"Umhmm," Dax sounded like he didn't believe me.

"Besides, I can't talk about girl stuff with you! You're a guy! Sorry, guy talk is strictly for me and Ronny." I said calmly.

"Man, and here I was thinking that I would be the first man who would be a recipient of 'girl' talk." He said teasingly.

"No guy has ever heard real girl talk. See there's girl talk and there's girl talk. The first would be actually girls to girls. The other kind is the girl talk that girls talk in front of guys." I put my head to one side.

"Complicated."

"Yes, we are." Suddenly I saw Mack's Zord come zooming out of the Temple.

**-----PROO-----**

"There they are!" Mack told us, pointing to the huge mound of dirt in front of him.

"I've lived in some dumps, but this is ridiculous!" Ronny was saying as her bright yellow helmet appeared in the pile.

"Will, Ronny!" Mack yelled to them from his Zord. "You guys alright?" He jumped down from his Zord and landed near us.

"Yeah, **I** had it under control."

"Oh really?" Dax scoffed.

He kept talking, but I was busy eyeing Mack as he helped Ronny to her feet. _Why is it that whenever I get my hopes up they seem to be dashed to the ground?_

Suddenly will was in front of me, pushing me out of the way.

"Okay, things don't always go as expected, but you have to be ready to improvise." Will was standing at the edge of the cliff. I wondered if it would be too hard to find a replacement black ranger…

"Improvise," Ronny cried as she jumped up and ran over to Will. "Is that what ya call it?" She was teasing him. We'd definitely have to talk.

"Shhh, Ronny!" Will said suddenly, pushing his hand to Ronny's mouth. To push her away. Were they-flirting?

"So, what about the jewel?" Mack said stepping forward. _Oh, I see what happened. Mack saw Ronny flirting with Will and is jealous. Why do I always reach for what I can never attain?_

"Well I think we can assume the Temple is booby-trapped." I said, bringing my mind to the mission at hand. "We should go together." I said, stepping towards Mack. _No, I'm not trying to get his attention._

"Huh," Ronny said.

"Mh hmmm," Will said at the same time.

"Me first!" Will yelled, starting to run toward the Temple. He pushed me and Dax out of the way. I was just off-balance enough to fall to the ground. Dax didn't fall and started to run after them.

Mack held out a hand and helped me up. He kept a hold of my hand. "Shall we join the others?" He said.

I nodded. He broke the contact with my hand and we started running after the others.

**-----PROO-----**

We walked into the Command Centre, me and Dax slightly ahead of the others. We were laughing and talking about everything that had happened.

"How'd it go?" Hartford asked.

"Great." I said enthusiastically. "We found Atlantis and brought back a cocoon." I could barely contain myself. The fight had been exhilarating. "Massive sensory readings." I grinned.

Hartford looked excited as well. "Fantastic. We'll keep Atlantis to ourselves for its own protection." I nodded, happy that he'd thought of it. My hands forming two thumbs up.

"Uh, Will. Any problems along the way?"

"I-uh-" Will started to explain what had happened.

"We had some problems, but, uh, we sorted them out as a team." Mack jumped in. What a sweet guy. _Wait, no. He likes RONNY remember?_ Mack placed his hand on Will's shoulder as a friendly gesture.

"Good, glad to hear it." Hartford said, knowing full well that it had been a little more complicated than that. "Now let's see what you found."

I turned to watch Will open the cocoon. He handed it to me. "Mind doing the honours?" I smiled at him, accepting the proffered olive branch (or cocoon, in this case).

"That's what I'm here for. One powerful jewel coming up." I examined the cocoon carefully. Was that a faint crack running under the thick embossment? I grabbed the top and twisted, it coming off easily in my hands.

I pulled the top off revealing not a jewel, but a scroll seemingly made of bamboo and vine.

"That's not a jewel!" Dax said, disappointed. _Thank you Captain Obvious…_ "What a rip-off!"

I removed the scroll from its place. "It's an ancient scroll." I said, showing the others.

"The next piece of the puzzle." Hartford said, somewhat calmly for having just been disappointed.

I handed the bottom half of the empty cocoon to Will, turning the scroll over and over in my hands.


	5. Heart of Blue

"Well, it's kind of late to be doing anything tonight. Why don't we just leave it as it is and we'll take a look at it tomorrow?" Mack suggested calmly. I glared at him. He wanted us to leave this scroll wrapped up, TIED up, without even looking at it!

"You're right, Mack. We'd better get some food and rest and we'll have a look at it tomorrow. It's already 5:00pm; dinner will be ready in an hour. Why don't you all go relax?" Hartford took the scroll from my hands, ignoring the outraged look on my face. Then I got an idea.

"Hey, you know that book you sent us to get this morning? The one you already have a copy of? I was wondering if I could buy it off of you. I looked through it briefly and it looked interesting."

"Oh you don't have to pay for it. Here, it's a gift." Hartford went over to where he had put the two books and handed one to me. Hartford smiled at me and he left the Command Centre, scroll in hand.

Ronny, Will and Dax followed him. I stayed there, opening the book. It still smelled new. I grinned as my nose caught that particular scent. I flipped through the pages as I walked towards the elevator. Suddenly I was falling forward, book flying out of my hands. One minute I was looking at the grey pavement, the next I was being held by strong arms.

"You okay?" Mack whispered in my ear.

"Uh, yeah I'm fine." I could hardly think straight, his eyes were so blue and his strong arms that I was lying in were holding me protectively. His face got closer and closer. Was he going to-? My eyes fluttered shut.

_beepbeep_ my eyes flew back open as Mack's watch went off. "Sir, it's time to prepare the evening's repast."

"On my way Spence," Mack spoke into his watch calmly, annoyance written all over his face. He gently pulled me up.

He grinned at me. "Duty calls. Hope you like the book. My favourite part was on page 97." With that he turned and walked up the stairs.

I had no idea what had just happened. Was it my imagination? Wishful thinking? I didn't know. _Better forget it, just in case._

**-----PROO-----**

"So, what do you think is inside the scroll?" Dax asked.

"Only one way to find out: pop that puppy open!" Ronny said excitedly.

It was the morning after our mission to Atlantis. We were crowded around the work table, Hartford holding the scroll. Carefully he started to remove the vine that held the scroll in a tight cylinder.

"Whooo! Man you guys have got to check out the HoverTech cycle Spencer's hooking me up with." Will came bursting through the garage doors.

Spencer made some reply, but my eyes were fixed on the scroll. What could it possibly be? It had to be something wonderful if they booby-trapped their temple to protect it. Hartford slowly laid the scroll flat on the table.

"Does anyone know what it is?" I heard someone say. I studied the scroll carefully. What if- what if we didn't have the whole picture, or maybe what if we had _too much_ picture? Suddenly it was clear to me what the picture was.

Everyone was arguing I whistled loudly and they all stopped, looking at me. I moved my hands over the scroll, folding certain parts over each other. "Look familiar?" I said proudly.

"It's a sword!" Ronny yelled. I rolled my eyes. Was everyone on my team Captains of the obvious?

"It's Neptune's sword." Hartford said, his words echoing my thoughts. "That's about all I know about it. We're going to have to do some more research. Unless-"

I looked up, seeing everyone's eyes on me. "What makes you think that I know any-?" They were all looking at me. I grinned. I guess sometimes having a reputation isn't all that bad. "Okay, the Sword of Neptune belonged to the god of the sea and it's actually made up of three scrolls, not just this one."

"Three scrolls, huh? I'll program the computer to start a search for where the other scrolls might be." Hartford said, turning away to the computer.

"Come check out my HoverTech cycle!" Will said, grabbing Ronny's arm and dragging her over to the garage.

"I'm going to go pick something up downtown." Dax declared, heading towards the elevator.

I looked at my watch. "I'm supposed to be doing my chores, helping Spencer on Zord maintenance. I walked towards the garage.

"Mind if I watch? I'd kind of like to know how they work." Mack said following me into the garage.

"Sure. In our last battle I noticed that your Zord got hit particularly hard. Spencer's busy with Will's cycle so I'm going to do as much as I can."

"You mean you actually repair them? I thought you helped build them."

"Normally I do, but today Spencer's got it under control, and I have a feeling that our Zords are going to be needed today."

I walked over to the Zord, looking at everything and seeing what needed to be repaired. Then I walked over to where the tools were kept. Pulling out my tool belt I filled it with the tools I needed. It was hot working in the garage, so I took off my jacket, resting it on the work bench.

"How do you know which tools you need?" Mack's voice came from over my shoulder.

"Photographic memory."

"Ah, that explains it."

"Explains what?" I said absent-mindedly as I began to work on the Zord.

"Why you can remember things. I thought I had a pretty good memory, but you're able to just rattle off facts just like that." Mack said, watching me work intently.

We were silent for a few minutes, me working and Mack watching in silence. All of a sudden a stream of oil came bursting out, spraying my cheek. My hand came up as a reflex so fast that it knocked me off balance and I started to fall backwards. All of a sudden I felt Mack's warm hands on my back, keeping my steady. I turned my head to see his face inches away from mine. I could feel his breath on my face. _Peppermint._ I smiled a little at that thought and he smiled back. _Déjà vu anyone?_ His face, like last night, was coming closer and closer.

"Rose!" It was Will, coming to find me. "Spencer says he needs some help on my HoverTech cycle." He walked towards me, glaring at Mack.

"She's a little busy at the moment." Mack's voice said irritatedly.

"Oh I don't mind. Spencer was telling my earlier that he needed me to look at a few things he wasn't sure he had right." I stood up and walked past Will, leaving him standing there glaring at Mack.

**-----MACKS POV-----**

"Look, we need to talk." Will said, standing up and walking over to me.

"Um, alright." I said, narrowing my eyes.

"Look, I like her alright, I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is." Will said.

"I didn't realize you felt that way about it," I narrowed my eyes. 

"She's a great girl, any guy would be lucky to have her. So back off. I've seen the way you've been treating her lately."

"Hey," I protested. "I've liked her ever since I first met her. That means I liked her first, meaning that according to Man Law, _you_ have to back off." I said sharply. **(A/N: couldn't resist putting that in)**

"I was attracted to her the first moment I saw her, which was before you ever entered the room, buddy."

"It's not like you've been especially _nice_ to her." I said calmly, growing even angrier inside thinking about how he had treated her yesterday. They thought I hadn't heard over the communicator, but I had.

_------FLASHBACK-----_

_I was sitting in my Zord, watching the little pink dot on the screen._

"_There it is good job, Rose." Will said, putting a hand on her shoulder. _Well at least they're getting along. _"I'll take it from here." Will moved his other hand onto the wheel of her Zord._

"_Uh, nobody drives my Zord." Rose's voice came through the speaker sharply._

"_Okay, have it your way." I definitely need to have a talk with him. We weren't working as a team and that seriously put a strain on our fighting._

"_I'll engage the Hydro Claws." Rose said, expertly manoeuvring them._

"_See, Rose knows." Ronny put an arm on Will's shoulder._

"_Rose knows books." _Okay now I'm mad. Not only is this guy not co-operating, but he's putting down other members of the team. Rose too, who is a great fighter and is totally awesome! _I pictured Rose in my head, with her soft black hair and warm black eyes. _She's beautiful – whoa there Mackie-boy. She's way too smart for you. I'm always in awe when she's around. _My hand tingled, remembering the night before when I'd held her hand in mine, it fitting perfectly in mine. We were content just to be in each other's company. I'd told her things that I'd never told anyone: including Spencer._

**-----**_END OF FLASHBACK_**-----**

"Okay, so maybe I was just having an off day yesterday. But I've been nice to her since then." Will glared at me. He took a step closer, poking me in the chest with one finger. "I'm telling you: STAY AWAY." With that he turned and walked over to watch Rose and Spencer.

_Well that seemed kinda random. I mean I had no idea that Will liked Rose. Well they seem to be getting along quite fine without me. I'm supposed to be training anyways._ I walked out of the garage and up the Command Centre stairs, not noticing that Rose was watching me intently as I walked away.

-----**ROSES POV-----**

Will came back from talking to Mack tense and with visible anger written all over his face. "Will, what's wrong?" I asked him softly. "Sometimes it helps to talk to someone about it: especially girls."

"It's nothing, just problems with Man Law."

"Man Law?"

"I can't really discuss Man Law; all I can say is that no guy should try to steal another guy's crush." Will's eyes narrowed.

"I see. Specifics?" I asked, knowing that he was talking about Ronny. I'd been watching them for a while now and every chance they got they flirted with each other.

"Well, I know I acted like a jerk yesterday, but that doesn't give Mack the right to move in on Ronny." It hurt, hearing the words I'd been thinking in my heart out in the open. _If Will noticed then I must be right. And I was starting to get my hopes up too._

"You should tell him." I said quietly.

"I just did, but Mack insists that he liked her 'ever since they first talked to each other.' So? I liked her as soon as I entered the house!"

_Ever since they first talked to each other? Then I never had a chance at any point. So us talking and almost kissing – wait, how do I know he was going to kiss me. I don't. I jumped to a conclusion and look where that left my heart._

"Well, if it'll help I'll talk to Ronny." I offered. "I really want us to be friends, Will."

"We are." He smiled at me. "I'm sorry I acted like a jerk yesterday. Are we good?" he held out a hand. I shook it.

"We're good."

**(A/N: for those of you who didn't pick up on it, the 'she' that Mack was referring to and the 'she' that Will was referring to are two different girls.)**

**-----PROO-----**

"Hey Ronny, can I talk to you for a sec?" It was shortly after 11:00pm when I knocked softly on Ronny's bright yellow door. I knew it was supposed to be lights out, but I wanted to talk. A few moments later it opened.

"Sure Rose, come on in. Ya know, since we're the only two girls in the house, we'd better stick together." She sat down on her bed, picking up a fuzzy yellow pillow and holding it to her chest.

"That's exactly what I was thinking. I know we're not really alike, but that's no reason why we can't be friends." I smiled at her, sitting on the end of her bed.

"Cool. So, was there anything special you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Oh, not really. I just have a hankering for some girl talk." I smiled, knowing that girl talk would lead to the subject I'd wanted to discuss in the first place.

"Sounds great. Why don't we go down to the kitchen and get some hot chocolate?" Ronny said.

"I know exactly what to do." I reached out and grabbed her arm. "I've been working on my invisibility. Look." I turned us both invisible, slowly so that she wouldn't be too alarmed.

"Whoa, that is so awesome! I think that of all of us you definitely have the best power. You could totally sneak somewhere and do some serious damage. I mean, because you're smart and would know exactly what to do."

"Come on, let's go." We opened the door and walked down to the kitchen. I flipped on the light.

"Won't someone see us?"

"I don't think so, because it's supposed to be lights out. Spencer's probably in bed or working on the Zords and Hartford turned in before we did."

"So why did we have to become invisible?"

"Because it's fun." I grinned at her as I started to gather the ingredients for hot chocolate.

"How can you remember where everything is?" I explained to her about my memory. Spencer had taken us on a tour the day after we arrived and showed us the contents of the cupboard briefly.

"So, girl talk, huh?" Ronny said as she jumped to sit up on the kitchen counter.

"Yup. Actually there was something specific I wanted to ask you. How do you get your hair like that? What products do you use? No matter what brands of shampoo I use it always turns out flat."

After talking hair, make-up and making a date to go shopping, how we would handle having our periods as rangers, we finally got onto the topic I wanted to talk about. And I didn't even have to bring the subject up!

"So, Rose, how many boyfriends have you had?"

"Well, none actually. Guys don't seem to like smart girls."

"I've noticed that too. They seem to be attracted to girls that don't have a clue what a two-syllable word is."

"That's funny. That's the exact thing that Mack said."

"Oh," Ronny said, her voice changing significantly. "You've talked to Mack about this stuff?" Her voice held a teasing note.

"I don't even remember what we were talking about at the time. Random stuff I guess." I shrugged. "Speaking of Mack," I tried to keep my voice nonchalant. "What do you think of him?"

"As a leader or as a guy?"

"As a guy, of course!"

"I think he's hot, but not my type."

"And would your type be a tall handsome man with a penchant for the colour black?" I said teasingly and was rewarded with a blush.

"Yeah." She said quietly. "What do _you_ think of Mack? I've been noticing that you give him some pretty special glances yourself." She raised an eyebrow and I blushed in return.

"I like him. A lot. But he'd never go for someone like me. I'm too quiet and too smart. Not to mention I'm not beautiful like you."

"Don't be silly." Ronny said sharply. "You're very pretty, beautiful in your own way. If Mack doesn't see that he's a fool."

"Well isn't this peachy." I gave a bitter laugh. "You like Will and I like Mack. Will likes you and so does Mack. Everything works out." I started into my now-lukewarm hot chocolate.

"Don't be silly. Mack likes you. I'm sure of it. To tell the truth I haven't really been paying attention, but I will from now on."

"We'd better get to bed, it's getting late." I glanced at the clock on the wall which read 12:30. "Big day tomorrow you know, what with the Sword of Neptune and all that. I wonder if we'll ever get to meet this girl Dax is crazy about."

"Well we know what she looks like." We got up and talked softly as we walked back to our rooms. "She's called about 5 times so far. G'night Rose." Ronny said, stopping at her door. "And Rose," I turned to face her. "Don't give up on Mack. He's a fool if he can't see what's in front of him."

I laughed. "A guy, being a fool? No WAY! I'd never have guessed it." She joined my sarcastic laugh. "Good night Ronny. Hope we get a chance to talk again like this. We girls need to stick together."

"I agree." She said, going into her room and shutting the door. I sighed and headed over to my room. Before going to bed I decided to go out onto the patio and watch the stars for a few moments.

**-----PROO-----**

The next morning, right after breakfast I came downstairs with Hartford: me to work on some Zords and him to do some more searching.

"Hey Rose, how's my cycle coming along?" Will's voice came through the darkness excitedly.

"You sure are excited." I laughed.

"Well, yeah! It's wicked awesome." He grinned at me.

"Oh, I talked to Ronny last night." I mentioned casually, turning back to the bike. I could feel him stiffen. "Oh yes."

I laughed; he was trying so hard to appear casual. "Well I can't divulge the secrets of girl talk, but I can tell you that Mack isn't a problem." _Well, for her at least._ I sighed softly, turning back to my work.

**----PROO-----**

It was just after lunch. Will and I were watching Hartford narrow down the search. From somewhere behind me I heard people coming down the poles. I glanced back to see Mack and Ronny. Ronny winked at me and I turned back to the computer quickly.

"Found the two missing scrolls?" Mack called out from behind us.

"Not yet I'm working on it." Hartford said, pressing a few more buttons.

"Anyone seen Dax?" I said, knowing full well where he'd been. When he got back from town we hadn't been able to keep him quiet. He kept going on and on about the girl he'd met, Mira.

Suddenly down the pole came Dax, we heard him hit the floor. "You're supposed to use the pole," I teased him gently.

"Sorry, I was, uh, I was thinking about someone and, uh, forgot to use the pole." He tapped the pole lightly. I rolled my eyes. _I'm glad I don't act that way around Mack. Then he'd know for sure that I have a crush on him._

"Forgot?" Ronny laughed. "Never mind."

"Any luck researching more info on the Sword of Neptune?" I asked, knowing what his response would be. Besides, any research he would have done would have been useless. I'd already exhausted every resource I had this morning before breakfast.

"No, I, uh, uh, was I supposed to do research?" Dax was so cute when he was confused.

"Are you alright, Dax? Seems like your mind's been a little preoccupied lately." Mack asked. Was he really that oblivious? I wanted to yell at him 'He's in love, you idiot. Just like I am with you!'_ Uh, I mean, no I'm not. It's just a crush, it can't possibly be love. I've only known his for less than a week! He might be the cutest, sweetest, charming man I've ever met, but that doesn't mean I'm in love with him._

"It's love." Will stated frankly. "I've seen it happen before. A woman's got him under a spell." I smiled as Will put his hands on my shoulder and rested his chin on my shoulder.

"No way!" Dax protested.

"Methinks the man protests too much." I whispered to Will, giggling a little. He smiled broadly in response. I turned my head back to face Dax and noticed in the corner of my eye that Mack had lost his smile and was staring hard at Will. Will noticed and a light of comprehension dawned on his face.

"I'm not under any spell." Dax continued.

"Yeah," Ronny laughed. "We can see that."

I laughed harder as Dax finished stuffing his face with the sandwich he'd picked up.

I hadn't even noticed that Spencer had entered the room until I heard his quiet voice breaking through my laughter.

"Sir, while returning from the mechanics lab I received this e-mail." He handed Hartford a metal disc with the Operation Overdrive symbol on the front.

"Is it about my HoverTech cycle?" Will said, stepping forward.

"Oh no, sir. The words 'patience is a virtue' are lost on your generation." I smiled at this. Spencer was awesome.

Hartford was reading the e-mail intently. He looked up suddenly. "It seems that the other two scrolls were in the International Museum of Antiquities."

"Were?" I asked, my mind leaping to the most obvious answer.

"About two years ago they were believed to have been stolen by a Lady Penelope Easterbrook Smyth." Ah, I'd read a bit about her in a paper once.

"The Great Manx?" Will burst out excitedly. Trust him to know exactly who she was. "Her heists are legendary. I've tried for years to recover artifacts she allegedly stole from museums. Never been able to catch her with a thing!"

"Then where would someone like her keep these scrolls?" I asked the group at large.

"I imagine like most ladies she would keep her most precious possessions close to her." I smiled. Spencer knew a few things that most people would never know. "I believe she lives close by." _How convenient for us._ I grinned.

"Let's go!" I started to run towards the garage with the others I stopped when Spencer called Dax back, Mira's image on the screen.

"Third time this week." _Sixth, actually, but who's counting the fact that he'd only known her for two days?_ "It's getting serious."

"Guys we have to go. Dax you can talk to her later." Mack indicated that we should keep heading to the garage. We walked into the elevator.

"Of course I can. I've got work to do." Dax sounded as if he was trying to convince himself. "Guys, uh, I'll just be a couple of minutes." I rolled my eyes as the elevator doors close.

"I hope this won't be a problem." Mack mused.

**-----PROO-----**

"I knew this would be a problem." Mack grumbled as we headed back to the Hartford estate.

"Mack, would you have done it otherwise? If it was someone you loved, would you have kept the scrolls?"

Mack looked at me, his eyes unreadable. _Usually I have an easy time knowing what's going on behind those eyes. I wonder what this look means._

"I suppose not." Mack turned his eyes back on the road. "So, have a good time with Ronny last night?"

I could feel the blood draining from my face. "You knew?"

"Yeah, last night I went to get something to eat and you guys were in the kitchen. You didn't see me though, so I just went down to the Command Centre to grab a sandwich.

"Did you hear what we were talking about?" What if he heard that I liked him? Did I admit it to Ronny? I'm sure I did.

"You were talking about 'that time of the month.' As soon as I heard what you were discussing I got as far away as possible."

I couldn't help laughing. "Oh, so now I know what to say to get rid of you."

"That and talking about celebrities that you're in love with." He grinned at me.

"No worries there. No celebrity crushes for me." _Are Power Rangers celebrities?_ "Shut up!"

"What?" Mack said, nearly swerving off the road.

I blushed. "Not you, just my stupid inner voice." I smiled sheepishly.

"Ah that one. The one who tells the truth when you don't want to hear it? Mine's been acting up lately too." We drove the rest of the way in silence.

**-----PROO-----**

That last battle with Metal head had been crazy. It was a good thing that the HoverTech cycle was ready. "Spencer, we need something else in case we ever have to battle large groups or strong creatures again."

Spencer and I were in the mechanics lab, working out some designs. "And did you have something specific in mind?" He asked me with a little smile.

"Why as a matter of fact I do." I grabbed a sheet of paper and started to do some quick sketches. I was interrupted by my Tracker. I sighed. "We'll finish this later." I headed back down to the garage.

I got into the jeep; everybody else was ready to go. "Let's finish this once and for all." Mack yelled as we headed out the doors.

"Very inspiring," I muttered.

"I try," Mack grinned at me.

I blushed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say that out loud."

"Yeah, I'm still new to this. Give me a break!" He said teasingly.

"Well if you need any help, who better to ask than someone who has to be inspired?" I smiled at him. Before we knew it we were back at the dome where we'd fought this guy before.

"We can't waste all of our time on this guy. This is the last battle we have with him. We don't leave until he's destroyed." Mack said firmly. "Ready?"

"OPERATION OVERDRIVE!"

**-----PROO-----**

"Sorry for doubting you, Dax. I guess we all are."

"Hey, if it wasn't for you guys keeping my eyes open I might never have figured her out." Dax is such a nice guy. As Ronny said before: much too good for Mira.

"What gave her away?" Ronny asked the question that was on my mind.

"For one, the only time I saw that monster was when she was around."

"That's not much to go on," I observed.

"But then she let it slip that she knew we were looking for the jewels. I never told her." Smart Dax. I felt sorry for him. His first love and she was only using him to get something she wanted. I hoped that my first love would be someone different. _And he is. Shut up stupid inner voice!_ I brought my mind back to the conversation at hand.

"Sorry guys, I never meant to get side-tracked like that."

"I don't blame you. She was hot!" Will grinned. I rolled my eyes, my heart dropping just a little when I saw Mack nodding in agreement. "Evil, but hot."

"Thanks." Dax said. "Now let's check out this sword!" We crowded around the table. Even with the excitement of the Sword, I was fully aware of Mack's tall frame standing beside me. Dax handed me a scroll and I laid them out on the table end to end. Before our eyes the scrolls joined and became one, slowly turning into a Sword.

I reverently picked it up. This was the Sword of Neptune, a sword that was handled by a god! Then I noticed something. "The jewel's gone." I said disappointed. "Now what?" Suddenly the sword was shaking in my hands, a blue light running up and down it. The sword went flying out of my hands and embedded itself in the map on the wall. We walked cautiously closer. 

Will looked closely at the map. "Anybody been to St. Lucia in the Caribbean?" He asked, turning around and smiling at us.

**-----PROO-----**

Later that night I was standing out on the patio. It was still light out, and I was leaning my hands against the railing.

"Did you know you're bleeding?" Mack's quiet voice startled me.

"What?" I looked down at my hands. Along my palm was a cut that was bleeding. "Oh, that must have been from the sword. It'll heal."

"Better get it wrapped up. Come with me." I followed him into his room, then into his bathroom. He reached up to his medicine chest above the sink and pulled out a safety kit.

"This is going to sting." He warned, holding my wrist above the sink. The contact was sending shivers up and down my body.

"Just get it over with." I said somewhat sharply. This feeling was one that I didn't like. _If Mack makes me feel this way, and Mack likes Ronny, then I shouldn't spend a lot of time with Mack. It'll only make things worse._ I flinched as he poured the antiseptic over my hand.

"Sorry," he murmured, reaching in the chest for a bandage. He wrapped my hand gently. When it was wrapped he held my hand a little longer. I stared at him, wondering what was going on.

"Rose, is there anything going on between you and Will?"

"Me and Will? Where did this come from?"

"Please, Rose, humour me."

I sighed. "You aren't a very good leader if you haven't noticed the way he's been flirting with Ronny every chance he gets. We're friends, Mack. That's all." Suddenly I was angry. It must have shown in my eyes because when I stormed out of the room and back onto the patio he followed me.

"I'm sorry Rose, I shouldn't have interfered."

"That's not the problem. You know what the problem is, Mack? Guys are always 'just friends' with me. You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but no. Every time I start to like someone it's always 'we're just friends.'"

"You like Will?" Mack said with a strange look in his eye.

"OH! You men are so clueless!" I shouted and ran into my room, closing the curtains and falling onto the bed, the tears falling soundlessly onto my pillow.

**A/N: Yeah, in case you haven't noticed: I don't write fight scenes. Anyways lots of drama and jealousy going on in this chapter ******


	6. Weather or Not

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, but I've been having problems with my internet connection and this is the first opportunity I have of updating. Hopefully this problem will be fixed soon. I've done everything I can think of and everything they suggest.**

**But now: on with the story!**

**----PROO-----**

"They really need to make maps of this place." I grumbled as I walked down the hallway. It's a good thing I have a photographic memory otherwise I'd never be able to find anything in this place. It didn't help that Spencer hadn't specifically shown us the room I was looking for. He'd just gestured down the hallway vaguely.

"What'cha looking for?" Mack's voice came from behind me. I jumped, not expecting him to be there.

"Oh, I was just looking for the library. Or the place your father keeps his books. Would I be allowed to borrow them?"

"It's this way." Mack led the way down the hallway. "I'm sure he'd let you read them. He hardly ever reads these books anyways. All he reads are the books in his study."

He opened the door to reveal an amazing room. One wall had a huge fireplace and the other three were covered in wall-to-wall bookshelves. My eyes widened and my breath caught. There were armchairs and a few tables gathered around the fireplace.

"This is one of my favourite rooms."

"Really? I'd have said you were more of a T.V./Video game person."

"Nah, books are more interesting." Mack said simply. "So what were you looking for? On these two walls we have non-fiction and on the other we have fiction."

I walked over to the non-fiction, wondering how I'd be able to tell whether the books were in the Dewey decimal system. "How are these books arranged?"

"Dewey decimal. If you pull out a book there should be a slip of paper in the cover telling you what number it is." He pulled out a random book and opened the cover. Sure enough, there was a little slip of paper with the section and corresponding numbers on it.

I found the section I was looking for easily and pulled out the book I wanted. Mack caught a glimpse of the title and chuckled.

"I should have known." He grinned. "Are you all packed?" He walked towards the door and I followed, book in hand.

"Yes, but why do we have to pack? Can't the SHARC take us there and back every day?"

"I guess because it's just easier to live on the SHARC. We don't know how long we'll be."

"Whoa, wait. We're living on the SHARC?" I stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked at him in shock.

"Yeah. Didn't you know there are rooms on it?" We started walking again.

"I had no idea. I guess we couldn't stay at a hotel, because we might be too loud, or someone might break in." We reached the living room and I sat down on the couch.

Mack smiled at me. "You're so smart. And I'm not being sarcastic either. The first time I heard we were living on the SHARC I had no idea why. But anyways, enjoy your book. I have a few things to pack yet." Before I had a chance to reply he'd left the room. I shrugged and picked up my book: "The Caribbean: Islands of Paradise"

"Whoo, Saint Lucia!" Will's voice interrupted my solace as he came into the room with Ronny and sat down. "Nothing like a mission to a Caribbean island paradise." He grinned, putting his arm around Ronny.

"Eah, the beach is a little slow for me." I tried to concentrate on my book, which was at the point of explaining legends and myths that the natives believe in. "Unless I'm flying through the sand in a dune buggy." Okay, it's useless trying to read with Ronny in the room. No offense to Ronny, we've become great friends, but she is a little: active.

"I don't think we'll be seeing many dune buggy's where we're going." I said calmly, flipping the page, my eyes taking in the words. "The southern part of the island is mostly dense jungle and forest." I quoted from the third page of the book as I started to read page 108.

"This is so amazing!" Mack's voice came to my ears. I smiled a little. He sounded excited. I turned and saw Mack carrying his duffel easily. Darn his super-strength. I could have used a little bit of that with mine. Mack continued. "Travelling deep into uncharted territory to locate a powerful jewel before the forces of evil can find it and use it against humanity! Is this high adventure or what?" Mack had sat down next to me on the couch. I frowned a little, knowing that I'd never be able to finish the book with his sitting next to me. In vain I turned the page, trying to concentrate.

Suddenly from out of nowhere Dax came falling from the ceiling, landing on our pile of duffels that we had all piled in the middle of the room. He's obviously been listening to our conversation from the inside balcony. "Not so fast." He was holding a small blue bag tightly in his hands.

"I read that Saint Lucia is haunted." I smiled, having just read the same thing.

"That's just folklore, Dax." I tried to calm him down.

"Are those marbles?" Mack asked, confused.

"Not just any marbles," Dax explained, getting up from where he'd been lying. Oh no, had Dax bought some of those fake 'lucky' marbles that were making certain people in the Caribbean rich? "They're my lucky marbles." Well at least they're his and not ones that he bought. What a waste of money that would have been.

"Eh, don't worry, Dax." Mack said confidently. "We're Power Rangers! We're unbeatable." He said with a wink and a smile that made my heart melt. He looked at me, the same smile on his face and I hurriedly turned my attention back to my book.

"I can't wait until we go." Ronny said excitedly. "When are we leaving?"

"Dad said after lunch." Mack turned his face to Ronny. I looked up at Ronny and Will and grinned. Will had put his arm back around Ronny and was now looking at Mack hard. He must be thinking of their talk about 'Man Law.' I looked at Mack to see his reaction, and I was surprised to see a look at confusion on his face. I turned back to Ronny, who was looking at me with a grin. I grinned back, and we saw in each others eyes that we'd have to have a talk.

"I'm still not packed." Ronny said suddenly.

"But Ronny, your duffel's right there in the pile-" Dax said, his brow furrowed.

"I'm still not packed." Ronny said firmly, glaring at Dax. "Rose, care to come help me?" Ronny grinned at me and I grinned back.

"Why sure, Ronny." I said in an overly-dramatic tone. "If you need help _packing_ of course I'll help you." I followed Ronny out of the room, turning at the door to grin at the astonished males who still hadn't understood.

Ronny demanded a full explanation for Mack's reaction to Will's arm, and I explained what had happened during their "Man Law" talk. It took quite a while, and when I was done Ronny had a queer look in her eye: like she was planning something. I left the room hurriedly before she embroiled me in one of her complicated schemes.

**-----PROO-----**

We were standing in the Command Centre holding our duffels, waiting for our last instructions from Hartford before we left.

"Remember, be careful. There's no telling who you might run into on this island."

All of a sudden throughout the room we heard the alarm go off. Immediately looking towards the viewing screen I saw Lava Lizards surrounding a big truck.

"Looks like the trip's gonna have to wait. Moltor has other plans."

"Let's Ranger up!" Mack yelled and dropped his duffel.

"They're in Australia." Hartford yelled as an afterthought.

"Ready?"

"Ready. Overdrive Accelerate!"

We ran to the SHARC and climbed in. As we flew through the air I couldn't help but wonder whether or not it was a distraction. But then I remembered that they had no way of knowingabout the Sword of Neptune's flying through the air and landing in the map. They must be after something else.

Mentally I brought up the images that had flashed onto the viewing screen. Studying it more carefully I noticed that on the side of the truck it read "Energy Agency." The truck had some sort of vault on the back. I couldn't figure out what it was.

"We're here." Ronny yelled, pressing the Auto Pilot. I grabbed Mack's hand and felt Will grabbing my hand with the other.

"Ready?"

"Ready!" We responded as Mack stepped on the button that opened the portal.

**-----PROO-----**

_Note to self, kick-jumping through the air does nothing to hurt the opponent._ I thought ruefully as I sank into the SHARC's comfortable seats. We in the back of the SHARC were quiet. Mack was staring hard at the floor and Dax was staring out the window, a dreamy look on his face.

I studied Mack carefully. Something had happened to him as a result of that fight. I could see it in his eyes. Suddenly he looked up, his eyes meeting mine. I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks, but I held my gaze.

I saw the turmoil in his eyes. "Am I a good leader, Rose?" He asked in a small voice, like he was afraid of what the answer might be. My eyes widened, wondering where this had come from. "Never mind, it doesn't matter. Wow, look at the weird weather." He said as the SHARC bounced around in the air. Mack was firmly looking out the window, he seemed afraid to look at me after asking the question. I continued to stare at him as I thought about what he'd asked.

_Mack didn't think he was a good leader? He's a great leader. On every mission we go on we've returned successful, and its all because of him. Without him we'd be arguing with each other. Will would still be doing his own thing, and Ronny would be going wild without Mack to keep her in check. Dax – well, Dax would still be Dax, but still! We're a team which needed a leader, and Mack had more than proved his worth._

_Okay, I know that, but how can I make Mack see it? How can I tell him without him thinking that I'm just saying that?_

"Hang on!" Ronny yelled back at us. "It's going to be a bumpy ride."

"Now you're telling us." I grumbled, hanging onto my seatbelt as it grew even bumpier. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a small smile on Mack's face. _Good, I'm glad I was able to take his mind off it for a moment._

We landed safely and hurried into the Command Centre.

"That was brutal." Will announced to the room as we entered.

"I feel like all four of my tires have blown out." Ronny complained, the tiredness suddenly overwhelming her now that she wasn't busy. We sat down by the poles. I looked up at Mack and noticed the dejected look on his face. I decided to address the issue.

"Are you okay, Mack?"

"No I'm not okay. I blew it." He looked straight into my eyes and I saw the anguish and sorrow. He glanced at Will. "If it wasn't for Will-"

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Will interrupted him. "That's why there's five of us."

"What did Moltor want with that guy?" Dax changed the subject. I was a little mad at him, because I could see Mack wasn't fully convinced. But then my mind started to put the pieces together.

"He didn't want the guy, he wanted a sub-atomic energy generator." I knew that I would be able to remember what that machine was. It had looked familiar, but I couldn't remember at first. It had been so long since I'd last seen it.

"That's exactly right, Rose." Hartford said. "But why?"

_That's the question: why. Why would Moltor want a sub-atomic energy generator? What on Earth could he use it for. Well, there are many things he could use it for, and none of them pretty._

My thoughts were interrupted by Spencer. "Sir! This weather is relentless. First the sun cooked my daisies and now this downpour washed away my favourite melons!" The wheels in my head started turning. I was getting an idea of what was behind it. "Something is dreadfully wrong!" Spencer stated the obvious, as everybody on this team seemed to do.

Hartford turned to the computer and turned on the local new channel. The reporter told us of the strange weather and how it was ruining the infrastructure.

"Whatever he's doing it's connected to this inclement weather. I'm putting the jewel quest on hold." Hartford stated. _Very sensible of him._

"What?" Will asked, obviously surprised. _C'mon, as if we could go search for a jewel in this weather. _I looked at Ronny to see if she was as surprised as Will. She was.

"We have a new Zord to help you battle." My eyes brightened as I thought of our new Zord. It was amazing and I couldn't wait for us to use it. "Mack, its got your name on it." I smiled a little bit. While I was working on it there were several things I added with Mack in mind. My heart sank at his reply.

"No, maybe you should give it to someone else."

"Look," Mr Hartford attempted to reassure his son. "I know you had some trouble out there, but its times like these that define a hero." I snorted softly. _Yes, because that helps boost your sons confidence._ I looked at Mack hopefully. Who knows, maybe it would help. A father knows his own son best, or so they say.

Mack looked at his father, then down at the floor. Mulling the words over in his mind he glanced up and gave an almost imperceptible nod of agreement.

"Mack, it's this way." I jumped up and grabbed his hand, dragging him to the Zord Bay.

"Whoa, you're pretty excited." Mack grinned as I drug him up to the Zord.

"I should be." I smiled back at him. "I helped create this beauty and can't wait to see you drive it."

He stared at me for a second. "You knew I'd be the one to drive it." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Well of course, why else do you think I designed the chair to fit someone who was 6'2"?" **(A/N: Anyone know how tall Mack is?)**

"Miss Rose, you have other things to do now besides watching Mack test this." Spencer ushered me out of the Bay

"Come on, Spennis!" I slipped into the nickname I'd been using for him ever since we first started working on the Zords together.

Mack's eyebrow rose and half of his mouth lifted. "Spennis?"

"Oops." I covered my mouth. Spencer had forbidden me ever to use that nickname in front of anybody else.

Spencer glared at me. "Get going, _Posie_." He said deliberately, knowing that I hate the nickname he uses for me. Mack's other eyebrow rose.

"I slipped, I'm sorry. It's just, being in the Zord Bay, I forgot someone else was here." I pleaded with him, not wanted my nickname to get out. He looked, unsmilingly at me for a few moments before he broke out into a grin.

"It's alright Miss Rose. I should say I'd have done the same." He said magnanimously, knowing that he never would have. "Anyways, get going. You have some other things to do."

I grinned at him and walked out of the Zord, feeling Mack's gaze on my back.

**-----PROO-----**

Mack's attitude when we left was dejected, depressed and disheartened. Not to mention sulky. He growled at us when we tried to talk to him, and all through the fight I could see he wasn't truly fighting the best he could have. He was holding back, angry and resentful.

I was fighting with Dax, and we worked well as a team. It was fun fighting with Dax, because fighting was fun to him. A few times I glanced over at Will and Ronny, who were working very well together as a team. I wondered how Mack and I would fight as a team.

"Rose! Get your head in the fight!" I heard Dax's yell and turned back to the fight. Suddenly cloud formed over us and we dodged the crackling lightning, which for some strange reason was purple. Feeling a huge gust of wind we fell down.

"The weather man said sunny and warm." Dax joked. "What does he know?"

"Funny Dax," Ronny said sarcastically. We looked up from where we'd fallen to see Moltor approach us, laughing evilly.

"My weather machine has made me powerful."

"And a little nuts!" Will shouted back defiantly.

"After I destroy you," Moltor continued "my brother will respect me. Do you have any last words before I push this machine to its limit and destroy the living world." He asked mockingly.

"You can't do that!" Ronny cried. _Yes Ronny, that will make him change his mind._

"Yeah, you'll drown the entire planet." I added, trying to make him see reason.

"That's right, Pink Ranger. Engage the machine!"

"Come on Rangers!" Mack said and we held up our weapons. "Ya!" We yelled, running forward.

**-----PROO-----**

_I might never see Mack again. Wait, I'm being stupid. The world's safety is much more important than any one person. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few._

I felt the Zord underneath me hit the bottom, my seatbelt harshly keeping me in place. I felt something crack, then darkness overtook me.

**-----PROO-----**

_Why is it so dark?_ I rose up groggily, realizing that my eyes were still closed. I reached automatically for the communication button.

"What happened?" I asked, even as the events of the fight replayed in my mind, I remembered my last thoughts and chuckled. How odd that even as I thought I was dying, my last thoughts were a quotation.

I looked at the images of my friends and team mates on the screen and saw them slowly revive.

"It's the curse of Saint Lucia." Dax groaned.

"Well at least we survived." Ronny said positively.

"Let's get out of here." Will said, putting his Zord in motion. We all followed suit, and soon stopped as we realized that we were trapped.

"It's not working." Ronny's frustrated voice came through the speakers.

"Looks like the beach is going to have to wait." Dax said calmly.

Will was getting mad. "Oh man! We're stuck." He pounded the board with his fists.

"Mack will save us." I said, determinedly. I thought of the new Drill Driver and how easy it would be for it to rescue us.

"How long do you think it will take?" Will asked me. I thought for a while.

"Its hard to say, I say we just chill. Good thing I always take a book with me wherever I go." I said cheerfully, reaching into the bag I kept in the Zord. In the bag I kept a few books, a few granola bars and bottles of water and a few DVDs.

I looked at what the others were doing. Ronny was playing with a deck of cards and Will was listening to his iPod. Dax was playing with a bag of marbles. I opened a direct connection to Dax.

"Hey Dax, you're looking a little bored there. How about a movie?" I pressed a few buttons and dropped a DVD into a slot.

"Thanks Rose, I guess I was a little bored." He grinned at me and I gave him a little salute. He continued to play with his marbles as he started the movie.

I switched connections and Ronny was there, shuffling cards. "Hey Ronny, want to watch a movie?"

"Rose! You're awesome!" Ronny said, sitting up excitedly.

"Well I did just suggest to Spencer that a DVD player would be a handy tool to have." I winked at her as I sent her a movie. Shuffling the cards absentmindedly she switched it on and continued to shuffle.

Closing the communication I picked up a book and turned to where I'd left off. It was good to be the smart one sometimes.

**-----PROO-----**

"What's that?" Dax's voice came through clearly. He was obviously referring to the rumbling that we could hear and feel.

"It's the Drill Driver." I explained calmly, shutting my book and putting it away.

"We're saved!" Ronny said.

"Finally." Will grumbled.

"Didn't I tell you Mack would save us?" I said content.

Suddenly on our viewing screens a new screen popped up showing Mack in an orange console with the number 6 visible over his head.

"Rangers!" Mack voice sounded through excited and hopeful.

"What took you so long?" Will said, removing the ear buds from his ears.

"I had Zord trouble." Mack's voice was laden with relief.

"I hate it when that happens."

"I hope you forgive me for bailing out."

"We knew you'd come back. Ranger up guys!" Ronny said.

"I won't let you down again." Mack promised. "Let's roll!"

**-----PROO----**

Ronny, Dax and I were sitting in the rec room, Ronny was playing a new video game, Dax was telling one of his stories and I was half listening to him, half reading a book.

"We going to get this jewel or what?" Mack said bursting through the double doors, Spencer on his heels carrying all the duffel bags. We all looked up and agreed with one voice.

"Like my father always says: its not whether you fall down," Dax quoted, falling off the back of the sofa. "Its when you get back up." He said, springing back onto his feet. I grinned at the graphic portrayal of the famous quote.

"Aha!" Dax yelled, looking past me and into the next room. "So now you believe in the curse." He walked towards Will, who was standing in the room holding a familiar small blue bag.

"Eah, I'm not superstitious, but we could use all the luck we could get." He said rubbing the little bag. We all looked at each other for a moment before Mack started off, running towards the bag. Ronny was close after him and Dax was behind her. I grinned and followed them. Even though I don't believe in curses and spirits, I was willing to join in the fun.

We were all jumping to get them, Will was smartly holding them away from Mack's tall frame and more towards my short one. Suddenly Will dropped the bag and the marbles went everywhere.

"Oh no! My marbles!" Dax cried, crawling around on all fours trying to reach them before they scattered too far.

"How many were there?" Mack asked calmly.

"There were 20." Dax moaned, grabbing vainly at the tiny rolling balls.

"Okay everyone, we're looking for twenty blue marbles." Mack said, getting down on his hands and knees and collecting some in his hands.

We collected all twenty and were laughing about what had happened when Hartford entered the room.

"Okay guys, on with the quest." He said firmly, brooking no arguments.

We each grabbed our own duffel and started walking to the Command Centre. I leant over and whispered to Ronny. She smiled and nodded.

I raised my voice loud enough so that we could be heard. "No, they aren't very nice are they."

"If I was back home, I know about 5 men who would be glad to help me."

"Me too," I agreed, lying through my teeth. "I wish we lived in the old days where men were gentlemen."

Mack stopped walking at this and turned back to us. "I'm a gentleman. How may I help you?" He gave a little bow and smiled. _Is he smiling at me? No, he's smiling at us. Of course his body isn't turned a little towards me. I'm just imagining things._ Ronny and I looked at each other and turned back to him. Smiling we dumped our duffel bags onto him and walked on ahead. We could hear Dax laughing hysterically.

"Mack, you sure set yourself up for that one."

We looked back. Mack's eye caught mine and he grinned, hoisting my duffel onto his shoulder. I smiled back before I turned and, taking Ronny's arm in mine, we walked in front, leading the way to the SHARC.


	7. Pirate in Pink

The trip was surprisingly smooth. Ronny was definitely getting better at piloting. Mack had returned to his usual buoyant self. He and Dax had talked the whole time. I wasn't paying attention to what they were talking about because I was busy finishing that book I'd gotten from Hartford.

I looked up from my book when I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. My eyes followed the arm until they reached the warm blue eyes of Mack. "Hey, we've landed."

"Already? But I only got to read 100 pages." I got off my seat, tucking my book into the bag at my feet.

"100 pages? The trip only took about an hour. You read fast."

I shrugged. "Faster than most certainly, but I know people who read much faster than I do. Of course I can read faster, but I've found a pace that I like. It's fast, but I still absorb the information." I stepped off the gangplank, Mack and I following the other Rangers.

"Saint Lucia. I've read a lot about this island." I remarked as we walked down the beach, holding my tracker out hoping for a reading.

"Hey Mack, get out that map. It'd be nice to have some idea of what we're looking for." Ronny suggested. I looked down at my tracker. I wouldn't trust the map, who knows if things have changed or not, or even whether it's the jewel that the map is for? Then again, what would the possibility be that there are two treasures buried on the same island?

"Yeah, my dad traded some really expensive artefacts for this." Well if that was the case I was pretty sure it was a genuine map. Hartford would never waste money on a fake. We stopped and I watched Mack unfold the map. "It leads to something good." Wait, good? How can we be sure it's a Jewel then? Oh well, I suppose we have to follow every lead we can.

"Guys, it's so obvious! We've got a trusty old map to a remote island in the Caribbean." I rolled my eyes. Dax's imagination was running away with him again. I mean, we couldn't know for sure this was a treasure map. Could we? "We've got to be looking for-"

"Pirate treasure!" Mack called out excitedly. Everybody laughed and yelled with excitement. Well, everybody except me.

"Yeah right, all the relics from that era have been discovered long ago." I pointed out, a seed of doubt growing in my mind. How could we ever possibly know for sure that they _all_ were discovered. I squashed the feelings of excitement that were rising in me.

"Not everything." Mack pointed out. "Some of those pirates were really clever."

"Not clever enough to bathe from what I've read." I retorted. "Don't get your hopes up. That map could lead us to a big fat dead end." Everyone was looking at me in disappointment. I hate being the bubble-burster, but sometimes I can't help myself.

"Well let's follow the map anyways and see where it leads. No more of this wasting time." Will said, leaning over Mack's shoulder to read the map. "Okay, so Ronny, you flew the plane and saw the island form the sky. Where would you say we were?" Will grabbed Ronny's hand as she leaned over the map.

"We're there." She pointed to an inlet.

"Okay," Mack started thinking out loud. "So if we follow the beach in this direction for about a mile. Then we head due south into the jungle and follow these markings. Easy enough." Mack folded the map back up and pushed it into a pocket.

Dax held out his Tracker. "What are we waiting for?" He started to lead the group in the right direction.

**-----PROO-----**

"Hold up guys, I'm getting a reading." Will shouted and ran to a pile of sand. I followed right behind him. He began brushing away the sand to reveal something metallic. "It's old cannon." He said disbelievingly. He brushed away more to reveal a gold plaque. "The Black Scabbard."

I leaned back, uninterested. Of all the pirate stories I've read, the story which surrounded this one was mundane and uninteresting. I mean, compared to others I've read. Mack gave a cry of delight.

"I was right! This is a pirate ship." What? "I read about this in Brownbeard: the Pirate's High Seas Adventures. Yarr!" Not the best source in information.

"I know a lot about Brownbeard too, but I read it in a history book." I glared at Will because he was giving me THE LOOK. The look which says 'here she goes again.' I hate that look, because I can't help telling people what I know. It's in my nature to impart information. "Like most pirates he was an outlaw and he spent his life stealing and looting. He was nothing but a crook."

"Yeah, but he was a jolly crook." Mack protested, making the others laugh. I smiled sadly. Sometimes I wish I was different, someone like Mack; able to be free and have a lot of fun with things.

Mack started to recount the history that he'd read in his book. "See Brownbeard's ultimate goal was to find the legendary Eye of the Sea Jewel." I had to give it to Brownbeard: at least he had some ambition. The map, the cannon and knowing that he was looking for the Eye of the Sea Jewel all pointed to a Jewel from the Corona Aurora being on this island. I brought my thoughts back to what Mack was saying. "Some say that his ghost searched for it until this very day."

I rolled my eyes as Dax started to talk. "Ooh, ghost pirates." Let me guess, it would make a great movie? "That would make a great movie." I laughed under my breath. I've gotten to know my team mates very well.

"Well if Brownbeard wanted that Jewel so much, it's gotta have a lot of power. Who wants to bet that the Eye of the Sea is the first jewel of the Corona?" Ronny pointed out what I'd already figured out. I frowned as everybody started yelling and shouting at once. If we wanted to find to jewel we'd better get organized. They all started running off into the jungle. I ran after them, yelling that we needed to stop and organize ourselves. They couldn't hear me over their own shouts of excitement.

"This way!" Mack yelled. He wasn't even looking at the map anymore. I'd have rolled my eyes if I wasn't running. I caught up with the group to see a rope bridge, all decayed and _very_ un-safe looking.

"Looks like we have to cross this gorge," Will stated.

"No sweat, I've been on these things a bunch of times." Dax grabbed the ropes and started jumping up and down, making the bridge sway. I raised an eyebrow. Dax was smart, I knew that from my talks with him, but sometimes he was just plain stupid. "It's actually kind of fun. Who's going first?"

I looked at Mack. If the bridge did break he would be the best to be in front, because of his super strength. He looked back at me, and then turned to the group. "Okay, I'll go." As he stepped out onto the bridge and I heard the creaks I started to re-think my idea. Wouldn't it be better if I or Ronny went first? We were the lightest. After Mack went Will and Ronny. I hung back. It would be best if we went across one at a time. The less weight we put on it the better. I didn't have a choice as Dax gave me a little push onto the bridge.

"You scared?" He whispered in my ear after we'd taken a few steps.

"No, just smart!" I retorted. "How do we know the bridge will be able to take all of our weight at once?" I looked back and saw a glimmer of understanding enter his eye.

"Well we can't turn back now." He said. "See, it's pretty easy."

"This is really high!" Ronny yelled out.

The next thing I knew I felt the bridge disappear under my feet and I could see the end of the bridge getting high and higher. We all grabbed onto the now vertical bridge with all the strength we possessed.

"It's actually kind of fun?" Will shouted down to Dax.

"Everybody hold on!" Mack yelled.

"Do we have a choice?" Ronny screamed back. How many times have we used that phrase since we became rangers?

"Will, grab my hand!" I looked up to see that Mack had been able to climb up. Will took a hold of Mack's hand. "Everyone else hold on." I grabbed Ronny's leg and wrapped my arms around it. I felt Dax grab onto my leg. "Ready? One, two, three!" Mack gave a pull, his genetic enhancement coming into play. I could have done without the countdown; it wasn't necessary and just wasted time. That's what I was thinking as I found myself flying through the air.

Suddenly I hit something hard. When I heard a yell I realized that it was Ronny I'd landed on. I only had a few seconds to realize this before I felt something come crashing down on me. My eyes were closed and I could only assume it was Dax. Dax isn't particularly heavy, but when someone falls on you the force they hit you with is multiplied by the effect gravity is having. I'd explain it a bit more, but I don't have time. It's simple Physics.

"I love those genetically enhanced powers." I heard Mack saying as Dax rolled off me. We all got up and I noticed Will took a little longer to get up. Poor Will, he had the weight of all 3 of us on him.

"That bridge was secure when we started over it." Dax was saying. "Somebody, or something, must have cut that rope."

"Stop with the haunted island stuff, Dax." I was getting fed up with this ghost stuff.

"This island is haunted." Oh no, Mack was getting into this too. I should have guessed that he would be. I rolled my eyes. I had to get out of there; I couldn't handle any more ghost talk. I left the group quickly.

"Wait, Rose!" Mack yelled as he ran after me. I stopped and turned around.

"What, Mack?" I said angrily.

"What's the matter?" I looked into his concerned blue eyes. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, nothing. I just needed to get away from the others for a moment."

"What's the matter?"

"Oh nothing, only that this is an important mission with the entire world at stake if Miratrix, Moltor or Flurious find this Jewel before us, and you're all talking about pirates and buried treasure and running off all over the place and not thinking before you act." Getting all that out of my system, I collapsed onto a rock, holding my head in my hands, all of a sudden extremely tired.

"Rose," I felt Mack sit down beside me, putting a hand on my back. "I think we all know how serious this is, and that's why we're joking around. It's kind of nerve wracking to have the whole world depending on us."

"I know." I sighed. "Sometimes I wish, oh never mind. We'd better get back to the group." I jumped up and walked away, ignoring Mack's calls after me."

**-----PROO-----**

We wandered through the island until we reached a lake with sandy beaches. Off to one side there was a cliff-like rock formation.

"Who wants to be the first one in the creepy cave?" I looked over and for the first time saw the huge dark hole in the cliff. "Hands?"

Seeing that Mack wasn't going to volunteer, and looking around to see everyone else pulling back I decided to step forward. "Come on."

As we walked further into the cave we could hear ghostly sounds coming from all around us. The possibility of there being more than one ghost on this island was very high; I mean there were the remains of a pirate ship. Since when is there only one pirate on board a pirate ship?

"Um, I don't know about you guys, but my timbers are actually shivering." Dax said half-jokingly.

"They say," Mack said nervously, "that Brownbeard haunts this island scaring away everyone else looking for the Eye."

"Remind me to take away your library card. I told you there are no such things as ghosts." I said, putting up my front. Sometimes it's easier to hide behind a mask, which is what I was doing.

"Ahoy!" A gruff voice sounded from behind us. We all turned and gasped. There, standing in front of us was a pirate. Brownbeard, most likely. I wondered when he was finally going to show himself.

"Ye be looking at the most fearsome ghost of them all. 'Tis I, Brownbeard the pirate!" Brownbeard said dramatically. I rolled my eyes. A simple 'hi, I'm Brownbeard and I'd appreciate you leaving my island at once' would have been better. But no, he had to be all dramatic and try to kill us. What? Oh yeah, I knew he'd cut the ropes. As Dax said, the bridge was secure when we started over, and it wouldn't have snapped when we were almost to the end if it wasn't. More simple Physics.

"I can't believe this; I've read every story ever written about you. You're a legend!" Mack burst out excitedly.

Brownbeard laughed. "Oh, ye make an old sea dog blush." Mack was grinning at him like an idiot. "It's a true pleasure to make your acquaintance." He said, bowing with a flourish. "Now, if ye'd be so kind, get off me island."

"What?" Dax laughed. "We just got here. We need to find the Eye of the Sea." Ronny elbowed Dax in the ribs.

"Aha! So ye are looking for the Eye. Well ye'll never get it." Brownbeard was walking towards Dax intimidatingly. "It's going to be mine, ye hear. All mine!"

"Listen," I decided to finally speak. "We need that Jewel for something very important." Should I tell him about the fate of the world? Nah, ghosts don't care about that. "So just stay out of our way."

"And who is this saucy young beauty?" He said with a leer at me. Beauty, me? He must be kidding.

"The name's Rose and you're not fooling me with your phoney pirate charm. I know you're nothing but a common thief."

"A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet." He took my hand and attempted to kiss it. I pulled it away sharply. The only guy I want acting like that to me is Mack.

"See what I mean? He even steals from Shakespeare." Though to find a pirate which knew Shakespeare was somewhat of a surprise.

Brownbeard drew back. "Well I'll tell ye one thing girlie, you will never find the Eye of the Sea." Great, he's trying to bait us: to make us brag about having a map.

"Oh yes we will! We've got a map." Dax boasted. Ronny hit him in the chest even harder. "Uh, I'll just be quiet now.

Mack hurriedly hid the map behind his back. "Oh ye do?" Brownbeard said greedily. "What say we look for the Eye together?" Yeah, sure. Once we've found it and our backs are turned it'll disappear. "I'll bet me lucky pearl we could find it."

"Maybe its not such a bad idea. He does know the island" Will pointed out. It did make sense, but I for one would be keeping a close watch on that Jewel once it was found.

"Yeah, he knew enough to cut the ropes on the footbridge I bet." The look on his face was good enough as a confession. I felt pleased at having gotten such a reaction out of him.

"The-ah, what can I say? I'm a scoundrel. But I don't want to keep the Jewel. I just want to hold it in my hand once. So my old spirit," he coughed, trying to get sympathy, "can finally rest."

Even I was taken in for a few seconds, before I remembered that he was in reality a thief. I looked disbelievingly at the rest of the group. Seeing the looks of sympathy on their faces I couldn't help speaking. "You guys can do what you want, but count me out." There was something about this pirate that rubbed me the wrong way. I wanted nothing to do with him. I left the cave angrily.

As I walked outside I realized that I couldn't blame any of them. Having Brownbeard to help us would enable us to find the Jewel faster: Brownbeard would definitely know where it _wasn't_. I chuckled a little at this as I walked y myself in the forest. I took out my Tracker and help it up. The Jewel had to be within a certain range for it to register on my Tracker. The best way would be to walk to the exact center of the island, then go in each direction until a reading happened. I sighed. It would be easier if all 5 of us were searching, because then we could search in all directions at the same time.

Looking up I saw Brownbeard standing in front of me. He gave a little wave. "What do you want?"

**-----MACKS POV-----**

We were standing in the cave, watching Rose leave.

"Err; perhaps I'd better go after her." I said, starting to follow.

"Arg, no. Allow me, seeing as it's me she has the problem with." He dematerialized.

"You'd better follow them anyways," Ronny told me. "Who knows what Brownbeard would do?"

I nodded and left the cave. Holding up my tracker I saw two dots, one red and one pink. I headed in the direction of the pink dot.

"What do you want?" I heard Rose say. I ducked behind a tree and poked my head out. I didn't want them to see me. The last thing I need it Rose thinking that I'm spying on her. _Which is what you're doing._

_Shut up, voice! This isn't a personal want to see her safe. It would be bad for the team if we lost her. She's a valuable asset to the team._

_Yeah, sure. You keep telling yourself that._

"Oi want you to come back with us and look for the Eye." Rose started walking. "A treasure hunt's more fun when the whole crew is in on the adventure."

Slowly I started to follow them, keeping myself parallel to Rose. I shortened the distance to better hear what she was saying.

"This isn't about fun, this is an important mission."

"Really? Ah!" Brownbeard stepped in a hole. I laughed quietly. "It can be more fun if you put your mind to it. But then, you don't have a lot of fun in your life do you lass?"

I saw the pained look on Rose's face as she whirled to face him. "Let's see," her voice was bitter. I hated hearing her beautiful voice filled with bitterness. "I skipped over most of grade school and went straight to college. Since then it's been studying for my Ph.D., lectures, preparing my thesis and now I've been recruited to help save the world. So no, not a lot of time for fun."

_Her face is so sad. That must have been what she was talking about before. When we get back I'm going to make her have fun. We have fun together, doing the rooms was fun. She laughed a lot and smiled a lot. Come to think of it, she doesn't smile a lot. Well, she smiles at me a lot. Does that mean anything? I hope so._ My attention was drawn back to the conversation.

"I know just the thing ye need." Brownbeard was saying. I didn't like the look on his face. I drew nearer, preparing myself in case he did something. "Everyone knows there's nothing more fun than being a pirate." That's true. Suddenly he dematerialized and I saw his ghostly form walk straight into Rose. A gleam of light shone from her for a second as she slumped over. Suddenly she straightened up

She turned so she was facing me. "Arr," she said in a gruff voice. _Oh man, this is bad. This is very bad. I'd better go tell the others._

I ran back to the group, who had started walking through the jungle. "Is everything alright?" Ronny asked.

"Um, yeah. Rose is fine." I hope. I pulled out the map and started walking down the path.

"Rose was really mad." Dax pointed out.

"She'll cool down. Come on, we'd better keep following the map."

**-----PROO-----**

Okay, so maybe I should have told them about Rose before. But to tell the truth I was so surprised when she swung down on a vine, dressed in pirate's clothes_. Though I prefer the spandex. I mean, no I don't. And she definitely looks better in black. Not that I noticed, I mean. She's just a friend. A really cute and attractive friend, but still a friend._

"Ahoy mateys!" She said, map in her hand.

"Rose?" I asked, knowing that it wasn't really her inside. She looked so different. I didn't like it.

"Rosie the Bold, at your service."

"What happened to her?" Dax was shocked.

'Rose' turned to Miratrix. "You'll not be taking this map ye wicked witch!" she shouted defiantly.

"Think again, matey. Get her!" Miratrix ordered the monster. I watched in disbelief as 'Rose' battled the monster.

"Um, what's with Rose?" Will whispered to me.

"Long story." I whispered back. "I'll explain when this is all over."

A sword appeared in her hand, and she handled it expertly. I wondered if she'd remember any of this when Brownbeard had left her.

"Don't you think we should help her?" Ronny asked eager to get back into the fight.

"I don't think she needs it." I told her, my eyes following 'Rose's' every move. "She looks like she's enjoying herself." A huge smile was on her face and her eyes had lit up, making her beautiful. _I should be the one making her look like that. Not some old pirate who's been dead for hundreds of years._

_Jealous, Mack?_

_Of Brownbeard? No way!_

'Rose' landed before us, facing Miratrix and the monster with a look of triumph on her face.

"This isn't over yet." Miratrix claimed. Why do they always say that?

"That's it, run before I keel-haul ya!"

"That was awesome!" I told the grinning 'Rose' as the other rangers made sounds of excitement and wonder. "What happened to you?" I said with a grin, wondering what answer Brownbeard would give me.

"I don't know, but I feel as jolly as a jay bird." She handed me the map. "Now let's go find us the Eye of the Sea." She headed off while the rest of us stood there.

"What has gotten into her?" Will said disbelievingly. _Nothing really, just one of the greatest pirates that ever lived a hundred years ago._

"Let's get our shovels out now," I suggested. "That way when we do find something we can start right away." Pushing a few buttons on my Tracker a shovel appeared floating in front of me. The other Rangers copied my actions.

"We'd better catch up to her." Dax suggested as we took off after her. It didn't take long; she was crouching in front of us and muttering to herself.

"I'll bet my lucky pearl its here, I can feel it." She was saying. _Way to go Brownbeard. Way to just announce to the entire group that you've taken over her body._ I looked at the other Rangers to see if they'd noticed, but it didn't look like they had. I quickly looked back down at the map.

"'X' marks the spot," I commented, looking around at the huge fallen trees that were formed in a giant 'X'.

"Start digging." Ronny said, as we all bent down. Putting away the map and pulling out my shovel I bent down. The soil was filled with roots. _Stupid jungles that get a lot of rain so that the trees roots are near the surface to get more moisture,_ I grumbled. _I'd much prefer digging in the desert. Though there it's hot, so I suppose it all evens out._

"Aye! We've found it!" 'Rose' was shouting excitedly. Will, Dax and I all grabbed a side and we all pulled together. _I could have done it myself with my powers, but we're a team and they'd like to help._

We set it down on the ground a few feet away from the hole. Ronny and 'Rose' knelt down next to it. Together they opened the chest, revealing golden goblets, plates and other treasures. 'Rose' gave a grunt of satisfaction as she and Ronny started rummaging through the golden treasure, now tarnished and in need of polishing.

"I don't see it." Ronny complained as I knelt down beside her.

"There's more here than meets the eye." 'Rose' said cheerily and she continued pawing through the contents. Suddenly her hands found an old wooden box. Grabbing it eagerly she opened the catch, revealing inside the box: the Eye of the Sea!

"Thar she be!" Rose said, holding up the Eye for all of us to see. "The Eye of the Sea. It's more beautiful than I ever imagined."

Now that we'd found it I felt a need to address the issue of Brownbeard. "Okay Brownbeard." The other Rangers looked at me, first with confusion, then with sudden understanding. Stepping forward I continued. "You said you just wanted to hold it once and you've done it. Now we want to real Rose back." I'd missed her, even in the short half-hour she'd been gone from us.

"Fair enough." 'Rose' said. I was a little surprised, I expected him to deny being in Rose's body. Suddenly Rose's body jerked to the side as we saw the dematerialized form of Brownbeard come out of her and stood a few feet away. I looked at Rose anxiously. Would she remember any of what happened?

"Where am I? What happened? I feel so – dirty."

"Dir-euh, sorry, but I haven't bathed for a few hundred years." I frowned as I thought of Brownbeard washing himself in Rose's body. I didn't want that to happen to Rose, it would be humiliating and disgusting. Especially for a hundred-year-old pirate who had previously tried to come on to her. Don't you tell me that all that about a 'saucy lass' was just fun and games. "Well. I'm off, and I'll be keeping the Eye for myself."

**-----ROSES POV-----**

I launched myself at him, trying desperately to get the Jewel.

"Whoa, what happened to holding it and letting your soul rest?" Ronny protested.

"Oh, that was a little: lie." I drew back in horror as I realized the truth. If I hadn't run away, if I'd stayed there to keep an eye on him, if I hadn't let him infiltrate my body he would never have been able to steal it. "Now I must be shoving off." He said and turned away.

Suddenly, from behind me came a huge explosion, it threw me back and knocked the Jewel out of Brownbeard's hand.

"Thanks for doing all the hard work for me, darlings." Miratrix's voice came filtering through my pain. "It's all mine, baby." She said, picking up the Jewel and walking back to where her monster was. Had she been here all the time? And what on Earth was that huge monster?

"WAIT!" Mack's yelled in vain.

"Tata." Miratrix said as she and the monster disappeared in a mist.

I got up and turned to Brownbeard angrily. "I hope you're happy. Your greed has put the whole world in danger." I stared at him for a few moments then turned away to follow the other Rangers. I felt so dirty and disgusting. Suddenly I felt a hand on my back.

"Rose, are you okay?" Mack was saying gently.

"I'm fine, just in desperate need of a shower." I grumbled.

"I agree," Mack said with a grin, his hand was still on my back. How could he be treating me so nicely? Doesn't he realize it's my fault?

**-----PROO-----**

We landed at the mansion. "You get first dibs on the shower, Rose." Dax said with a smile.

"Oh thank you for that." I grumbled sarcastically and ran to my room. One long, hot shower and a fresh change of clothes later I was headed down to the Command Centre. We needed to get that Jewel back.

"Hey, Rose." Mack appeared in front of me. He sniffed the air exaggeratingly. "Oh yes, I can smell you again." He grinned at me. "What a relief."

"You mean I still smell?" I teased.

"Of course, only now you smell like you and not some stupid dirty pirate."

Halfway down the stairs to the Command Centre Mack spoke.

"What's the matter, Rose?" Mack asked gently, putting a hand on my back. I guess he could read on my face that I was sad.

"It's my fault. I had it right in my hands." My anger took over my feelings of remorse. "Arugh, that thieving, good-for-nothing, deceptive, smelly-"

"Err; I don't think Brownbeard meant for Miratrix to get the jewel." Mack interrupted. I sighed, he didn't get it.

"Maybe not, but it's because of him that she has it." No its not. It's because of me. "Not to mention his spirit taking me over and turning me into a pirate. How humiliating."

"You kidding?" Mack said a huge grin on his face. "You were an awesome pirate." He went into this little pirate dance. The tears came into my eyes. He didn't get it. It wasn't me in there. Did he prefer that me to the regular me. "Yarr! I'm Rosie the Bold! Ye-har, yo!" He faltered as he noticed the look on my face. "You were doing it."

"You're deluded," I said, trying to keep the anger out of my face. "Now can we keep trying to track down Miratrix?" It was my fault and I wanted to fix things as soon as I could.

The computer beeped and for the first time I noticed Spencer. "It seems as if your search is over. Look!" I looked at the huge screen to see Miratrix and her monster talking together.

"Let's see what kind of power this thing has. Remember, after you destroy the city, I want it back."

"Yes." The monster replied. My eyes widened in amazement as I saw what happened next.

"No!" I'd recognize that voice anywhere. "I want it back. The Eye of the Sea is mine; I stole it, fair and square." _There was nothing square about it._

"Mack, let me handle this one. I have a score to settle with him."

"Okay, but I'm stepping in if you need back-up."

"And I'll prepare the Shuttle Driver in the unlikely event that your enemy should grow to an enormous size." I smiled at Spencer, thinking of the Shuttle Driver and the capacities it had.

"You're the best, Spencer." I ran past Mack, not noticing the odd look on his face. He stood there for a few moments after Spencer walked to the Zord Bay.

"Let's go." I said, my voice stirring him into action.

As we got in the jeep he started talking again. "You really were an awesome pirate. You fought Miratrix and her monster at the same time, and sent them running. You weren't even morphed!" I looked at Mack as he eagerly recounted the battle. It was strange to hear him recount what I'd done, since I had no idea that I'd been doing it at the time. "Yup," Mack finished the story. "You were an awesome pirate."

"Oh, good to hear," I said quietly as I looked at the trees flashing past us. _Did Mack prefer me as a pirate? More open and adventurous than I am now? More like…Ronny? I know Ronny and Will like each other, but that doesn't mean Mack doesn't still like her. As a pirate he's telling me that I practically defeated Miratrix. I couldn't do that now. Maybe the whole team preferred me when Brownbeard was in control of me. _

"Though I must say I was relieved when he finally came out of you." Mack's voice was like a knife, cutting through all my self-doubts. I snapped my head up and saw that he was looking at me. My brown eyes met his and I found that I was having trouble reading his eyes. Normally I could, so what was this new emotion that I couldn't put a finger on?

"Oh really? Why?"

"Because you weren't with us. Your body was, but you weren't. Everything that makes you what you are was gone, and you were replaced with someone so inferior that at times I couldn't bear to look." I smiled at that as he turned his eyes back to the road. But my brain soon caught up with my heart and I turned my head back to the scenery. _Okay, so he didn't like me as a pirate. It's still my fault. I've got to get the Jewel back._

**-----PROO-----**

I was just stepping out of the jeep when I heard an explosion. "I'm going to head back to the Command Centre to see if Spencer needs any help." Mack said, taking off with a squeal of burning rubber. I ran towards where the explosion had taken place. "Brownbeard!" I yelled, running towards the fallen figure. Gently I helped. "You okay?"

"Arr just knocked the wind out of me. Ye can't hurt a ghost." He said with a little chuckle. "Much. Ye've gotta believe me, I didn't know the Eye could harm anyone. I'm sorry."

I looked deeply into his eyes and saw the sincerity. I was still a little bit suspicious. "Why should I start believing you now?" He cocked his head, unable to think of an answer.

"Its payback time, Ranger." My focus turned from Brownbeard to Miratrix. I had to get that Jewel back.

I walked over and faced her, shuffling my feet to get into position.

"Are you sure you want to mess with us?" Miratrix said tauntingly.

"Aye, matey." I said defiantly.

"Destroy her!" Miratrix ordered the monster.

He shot at me as I grabbed my Tracker. "Overdrive Accelerate!"

**-----PROO-----**

"He fooled me again!" I was saying bitterly as I led the team through the house. "And I was just starting to trust him." I don't trust many people; I've been hurt a lot in the past.

"We all thought we could trust Brownbeard. Don't blame yourself." Mack said, trying to make it easier.

I fingered the Sword of Neptune. It's easy for him to say, he didn't do anything wrong. Will put his hand on my shoulder. He was a great friend.

"Ahoy, me fine mateys!" I looked us as I recognized Brownbeard's voice, his for materializing in front of us.

"Good heavens, a buccaneer!" Spencer exclaimed. My eyes hardened. There is a big difference between a buccaneer and a pirate. "Shall I prepare a tankard of lemonade?"

"That won't be necessary, Spencer. He's not welcome here." My voice was icy.

Brownbeard stepped forward. "I may be a scoundrel, but I'm not a rat. I believe this is what ye're looking for." He said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the Eye. He gently placed it in my hand and I looked at it in wonder. "I never meant to cause harm." He said softly.

"I believe that." I assured him. "Thank you."

"This has got to be it." Will exclaimed, grabbing the Jewel out of my hand and trying to fit it in the Sword. After a few moments of trying Will gave up.

"It doesn't fit." Dax said wonderingly.

"All that for nothing." Ronny said, disappointed. I sat back, frowning at the Sword. It had said that the Jewel was on the island. If it wasn't the Eye of the Sea, then what was it?

"Well, euh, if that's not the Jewel ye're looking for-"

I smiled, why not? "Keep it." I looked up at him. "From one pirate to another."

"Thank you, missy." He took the Eye of the Sea lovingly in his hand. "But I'll not be taking things unduly anymore. I offer ye something in exchange." He shuffled around, looking for something. "Ah, me lucky pearl." He said finally, showing us a large white pearl. "May it bring ye good fortune in all your journeys."

He placed the pearl in my hand. It was gorgeous, but I wasn't paying attention to that. As soon as it touched my hand I felt a spark of electricity and power go through my body. My eyes widened as my Tracker beeped. I pulled it off, suspecting what it was going to say.

A Jewel reading was coming right from this house. Taking the pearl gently I placed it into the circle on the Sword. It started to glow and a bright white light shone from the pearl. Will picked the Sword up and laughed.

"That's it! The pearl is the first Jewel of the Corona!"

"Well, blow me down!" Spencer said in a pirate voice. We stood around the table, looking at the pearl, Brownbeard and each other, laughing hard.

"Now if it aint too much trouble for ye, I'd like a lift home." Brownbeard asked me.

I smiled at him. "Anything. You don't know how grateful we are for this."

We led the way to the SHARC and climbed aboard. I was sitting beside Brownbeard. "Err, Miss Rose, I was wondering if ye could do me a favour…"

"Of course I can. We owe you so much." I smiled at him.

"Well, sometimes this beard gets a mite bothersome. I was wonderin' if ye had any ideas of what I could do with it."

"I know just the thing." I reached into my duffel bag and pulled out my toiletries case. Opening it I showed him my razor and shaving cream. **(A/N: Man it sounds so weird to write that a girl has shaving cream, but that's what it is.)**

"And what would ye be doing with the likes of that?" He asked with a glint of fear in his eyes.

"I'll take off your beard. That way it won't be a bother anymore." I grinned at him.

"Okay, miss. Whatever ye say. Only, please don't do it in front of the others." He pleaded. "I want them to remember me like this. Especially that red one." He gestured towards Mack. I turned and looked at him laughing and joking with Dax. He chuckled. "I thought ye felt that way. When I was in ye, and begging ye're pardon for doing that without asking permission, I could see a little bit of your thoughts." My eyes widened with surprise.

"How dare you!" I shrieked, standing up and drawing everyone's eyes to me. "I mean, uh, never mind." I sat down quickly, my face turning red.

"I couldn't help it." He pleaded, and I reluctantly forgave him.

"Okay, but please let's not talk about it. It's an impossibility so I'd rather not dwell on it."

He chuckled. "An impossibility ye say? Nothing's impossible for Rosie the Bold!" The nickname brought the memory of Mack's pirate dance and I couldn't help laughing at the image. A few moments later we landed on the island.

"If you guys don't mind, I'd like to go with him for a few moments." I told the group, all of whom nodded in understanding.

I led Brownbeard off of the SHARC. "This aint me island!" He exclaimed.

I grinned. "No it isn't. We thought that after being alone so long, and now that you do have the Eye of the Sea, you might want to be around some people. Come on, lets get this shaving done." I had brought my razor and cream with me in my pocket. I brought out the cream. "Hold still."

A few minutes later it was done. Out of nowhere a mirror appeared in Brownbeard's hand. "Well, what do you think?" _He looks odd._

He laughed. "Oh that's handsome indeed. But I'll need a new pirate name."

I thought for a few moments. "How about Nobeard?"

"Most excellent!" He cried, jumping up. I looked back to see the group looking out the windows waiting for me.

"Don't tell the others," I said confidingly. "But I loved being a pirate." Grinning at him I ran back to the SHARC and up the gangplank.

"What took you so long?" Mack said, a smile on his face.

"Oh nothing, just some pirate talk." I smiled and strapped myself in and Ronny prepared the SHARC for take-off. Looking out the window I saw Nobeard looking after us, waving his arm. I gave a little wave back then sat back in my chair.

Today I'd had fun.

**A/N: I put Mack's POV in there for while Rose was a pirate. I wanted his perspective and this story would have been a lot shorter without it. So what did you guys think? This was a really fun chapter to write, because the whole story is basically about Rose. Oh, and don't you worry, in the next chapter Mack's going to tell Rose that he overheard, and he's going to make her have fun ******


	8. Fun and Games

**A/N: Anyone besides me wish they were using more of their genetic powers in the episodes?**

I was sitting in the rec room, enjoying a few hours peacefully with a book when it happened. I was invisible, something I'd found that I enjoyed doing. It gave me an added privacy, and I knew that I wouldn't be teased for spending my time indoors with my nose in a book.

Mack groaned as he entered the room by himself and plopped down onto a couch. "I hate Man Law." He leant forward and put his face in his hands. Suddenly he sat up. "Wait, what if he doesn't? I mean, he and Ronny looked pretty cosy together. I could be wrong. But he specifically said- no, wait. He didn't _say_ anything. I'm so confused."

I decided to take pity on him. Slowly turning myself visible so that I wouldn't scare him, I said softly "And you being confused is a novelty?"

He jumped and whirled around in his seat, staring at me in horror. "How long have you – how much did you – do you? Have you?" Lapsing into silence he started blushing furiously.

I chuckled. "Whoa there, I've been here the whole time. I like reading while I'm invisible. It gives me a feeling of privacy. And you didn't say anything incriminating." I grinned at him as he visibly relaxed.

"Don't you ever do that again! But I suppose I should be glad that you turned yourself back before I did say anything incriminating." He smiled back at me. "Oh hey, speaking of turning yourself invisible, I was wondering if you'd like to play a game of foosball with me."

I laughed. "What does my turning myself invisible have to do with playing foosball?"

He shrugged. "Nothing really. Come on!" He grabbed my hand and dragged me over to the table. "What colour do you want? Never mind, I'm red."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, I'll be blue. Now how does this game work."

Mack stopped dead, looking up at me with another expression of horror. "You've never played foosball before? Wow, you really do need to have more fun."

I stiffened. "What do you mean I need to have more fun?" I said coldly. "I have fun you know."

"Ah, I suppose this is it. Okay, I have a confession to make." He leant on the foosball table. "After you stormed out of the cave and Brownbeard left to talk to you, I followed both of you. I heard what you said about not having much time for fun." Mack shrugged. "I wanted to help you have some fun, and that's what we're doing today." He said, his voice growing determined.

I couldn't help smiling. He was being so sweet. I'd never have talked to Brownbeard in that way if I'd known that Mack was listening. He has enough of his own problems without dealing with mine. I frowned. "So that's what this is about. You're not content to just let me live my well-organized and laid out life you have to interfere with me. Well let me tell you, Mack Hartford," I shouted, seeing him cringe. "That is the sweetest thing anybody's ever done for me." I broke out in a huge grin as I walked around the table and gave him a hug. I giggled a little; he was still stiff from shock at my teasing. All of a sudden he unfroze and I felt his arms wrap around me to return my hug.

"You're good, you know that?" He said as he stepped back, grinning at me.

I smiled cheekily. "Oh yes, I know I'm good. Now are you going to teach me this game or what?"

**-----PROO-----**

"I don't get it." I said, holding the controller in my hands awkwardly.

"It's simple. 'A' is to jump, 'B' is to change modes, 'X' is to shoot and 'Y' is to change weapons. You use the arrows to move around. We're on the red team and we have to kill all the people on the blue team." He explained, pointing out the buttons on the controller. "Here, we'll play the practice level." He clicked a few buttons on his controller.

My brows were lowered in concentration as I frowned at the screen. "Why isn't my guy moving?" I frantically pressed buttons. Mack paused the game and looked at me holding the controller. Looking back at the screen he chuckled.

"You're in sniper mode, that's why. Wait, you're in sniper mode? How did you do that? I've been trying for months to figure out how to do that." He looked at me in admiration. "What did you do?"

"Um, I don't know." I looked at him helplessly. "I was just pressing buttons."

He sighed mournfully. "Never mind. Why don't we try something else?"

"Like what?"

"It's beautiful outside. Let's go do something outdoors!" He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of doors. "Our game shed is here." He led the way to a shed, opened it and switched on a light. I stepped inside to see an array of games. "So, what haven't you played before?"

I looked carefully around. I spotted several balls, soccer, basket and others. My gaze shifted to a familiar game. "Does it have to be one I've never played before?"

Mack shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat. What were you thinking of?" I pointed to the game and he grinned. "Awesome! I can never find anyone to play it with." He grabbed the set and brought it out into the open.

I gestured for him to set it up as I chose my colour. He finished and came back. "It's all set up. Wait, you're red?" he pouted. "But I'm the Red Ranger."

I grinned. "And red is the closest colour to pink. Sorry, Mack. I chose the game I choose the colours."

"Oh fine." He grumbled as he picked up the black croquet mallet and ball. "Ladies first."

**-----PROO-----**

I laughed at Mack's disgruntled face as I put the ball through another wicket. "Okay, I got it through, so I get another turn." Aiming carefully I purposely missed. "Okay, your turn, Mack." I turned.

"You didn't mention you were an expert at this game." He grumbled, setting up his ball at the beginning. He took the stick and gave a whack at the ball. It went flying out into the woods. "Oops, guess I've got to go a little easy on the super strength." He said with a grin.

"Okay, let's start over. You can just use the blue ball." I grabbed my red one and hurried back to the beginning. "Mack, why don't you go first this time?" I grinned at him. _At least he's a good loser. That's one of the things I like about him. He has fun no matter what he's doing, whether it's winning or losing. Wow Mack needs to learn a few things about croquet. What would be a tactful way of asking him if I could show him the proper way to do it?_

"I give up." Mack said. He turned to me. "Rose, I've never actually played this game before. Can you show me how?"_ Well that was easy, problem solved for me._

"Alright, well you know the basic rules, so you just need to learn the mechanics of the game." I said, moving over to him. "That looks funny, you using the black mallet to hit a blue ball." He grinned and grabbed the blue mallet.

"There, am I all colour co-ordinated now?" He said teasingly.

"Be quiet and place your ball." I ordered playfully.

He gave a mock salute. "Ma'am yes, ma'am!" He yelled, dropping his ball at the start.

"Okay," I did my best to imitate a drill sergeant. "Positions!" I yelled and he stood beside the mallet helplessly. "Okay obviously you're not cut out for the army." I took my own mallet and demonstrated.

Mack caught on surprisingly quickly. As soon as he learned the correct position he was good to go. I deliberately played him stroke for stroke, not taking the lead, content with letting him win the first time he'd ever played. He was frowning on concentration, finding it difficult to find a medium for his super-strength. When he hit the last post, his face lit up with a grin that rivalled the sun.

"I did it, Rose! I finished!" He said, running over to me and picking me up and whirling around. I couldn't help laughing at his eagerness. He gave me a small quirky smile. "Thanks for letting me win."

"Letting you win? Whatever do you mean?" I said in a fake surprised voice. He quirked an eyebrow and I smiled back. "No problem. Besides, you let me win at foosball."

"What? No I didn't." He tried to deny it. I rolled my eyes to show him that I wasn't buying it. He shrugged. "Hey, it's not about winning; it's about having fun playing. So what's next?"

**-----PROO-----**

"No way, I am NOT doing that." I said firmly, sitting down on the ground in protest.

"Come on, its fun!" Mack pleaded.

"No." I glared at him. He sighed and sat down next to me.

"Come on, you know you want to!" He said in a wheedling voice.

"No I don't."

"I'll give you a cookie!" He said in a sing-song voice. I couldn't help laughing.

"Oh, well if you'll give me a cookie, then of course."

"YES!" He yelled, pumping a fist into the air. "Okay, first we need some cardboard." He said walking over to the recycling bins they had at the side of the house.

I stood, staring at the huge bins, watching Mack get in and start throwing boxes out to me. "Well at least you recycle." I said picking up the cardboard and carrying them to a table. Mack hopped out and joined me.

"Now we need tape, scissors and paint." He said, running into the house as I laid out the sheets of cardboard.

"Rose, what are you doing?" Dax's voice came suddenly from behind me.

"Me and Mack are playing a game. Want to join us?"

Dax looked warily at the cardboard. "What kind of game?"

I sighed, knowing that it would sound stupid. "We're playing castles."

Dax's face lit up. "I haven't played that since I was a little kid!" He said excitedly. "Can I be the enemy?"

"Um, okay I guess." I had no clue what they were talking about. _Is this a guy thing?_ Mack came out of the house carrying a can of paint, brushes, scissors and tape.

"Oh hey, Dax. Want to play castles with us?"

"Sure! Can I be the enemy?" Mack nodded as he laid out the materials.

"Okay, well Rose has never played this before, so I'm teaching her how. First we need to make the castle." He said as he opened the paint can, handing me a brush. He started painting the cardboard.

"Um shouldn't we change into other clothes?" I said looking down at my uniform.

"Nah, we'll just take our jackets off and it'll be fine. It's not as if we have only one uniform." Mack grinned at me. "Besides, its fun getting messy." I shrugged and removed my jacket, Mack and Dax doing the same.

"Alright, let's get this thing started!

When I was finished the castle certainly didn't look like it would withstand an attack. It looked like it would fall over if he breathed too hard. "Come on, Rose." Mack said, handing me a wooden sword. "We've got to protect our fortress from the enemy!" He said, pointing with his sword to Dax, who was standing a little ways back, holding a sword of his own.

_Okay, I have to admit, building the castle was fun._ I gripped the sword in my hand.

"I, Sir Dax of San Angeles, hereby order ye to surrender!" Dax yelled, standing at the doorway of the castle.

"Never!" Mack yelled. "Never will the banner of San Angeles fly o'er the Hart Fortress!"

"Say something!" Mack whispered to me. I wracked my brain.

"Many have tried and failed to defeat us." I yelled, randomly. "There is no one who can defeat the Lord Mack and his Lady Rose." I pointed with my sword off to the right. "See there, the fields are strewn with the remains of those who have tried and failed. Prepare to meet thy maker!"

"Whoa, she's good." Dax said to Mack, dropping the pretence for a few moments.

Mack nodded with a grin. "She catches on fast."

**-----PROO-----**

Half an hour later Mack, Dax and I were standing in a pile of crumpled cardboard. During the battle Mack had tripped and fallen backwards, crumpling the Hart Fortress into a heap. I had yelled something about a traitor "I cannot live knowing that my beloved has betrayed me," I had cried dramatically. With exaggerated motions I then turned my sword on myself.

"So now what?" I asked, looking at Mack who was looking at the fallen Fortress with sadness.

Mack shrugged and looked at his watch. "Well it's pretty near dinner-time." He grinned. "How about some board or card games after dinner? That way we can get the others involved. The more people the better."

"Sounds great," I smiled at Mack.

"Ahem." Dax coughed fakely, drawing our attention away from each other. "Well, I think its time I, well I'm uh, I'm gonna go now." He stammered and leapt away. I chuckled. _Way to be subtle._

"So are you having fun?" Mack asked hopefully. I frowned, and his face fell.

I broke out into a smile, not able to bear teasing him any longer. "I've never had so much fun in my life."

He gave me a relieved smile. "That's great. You know what would be even more fun?" He said, drawing near to me so that we were inches away from each other.

"What?" I said breathlessly. I wasn't able to concentrate with him so near.

He leant down to whisper in my ear. "Helping me help Spencer prepare dinner." I smacked him playfully on the arm. "Ow! Wow you pack a powerful punch." He said as we walked towards the kitchen door.

"You know it; I've been working out lately, look!" I reached my arm out and made a muscle. He felt it with his hand, his fingers warm and gentle. _Does he feel what I'm feeling when he touches me? I don't suppose so. He likes Ronny. Every mission we go on I see something to confirm that. I don't have to worry about Ronny liking him back anymore, but that doesn't prevent him from having a crush on her. Will said that they were fighting about Ronny._

"Ah yes, that's a firm muscle there." He said, pressing gently. I couldn't bear the contact anymore and I jerked my hand away.

"Yes, well if we're going to help Spencer we'd better get a move on." I started walking quickly towards the kitchen.

**-----PROO-----**

That night I lay in my bed, thinking about the events of the day. _It's been a long time since I've been able to play like that. I took that test when I was 5 and since then I've been too busy to have fun. Even before I was I never played. I didn't have many friends; they didn't like me because I was so smart._ I smiled, thinking of Mack's face when he explained that he wanted me to have fun. _Mack is so sweet and considerate. A good friend._ I reminded myself firmly. _We're friends right now and that's all we'll ever be._

**-----MACKS POV-----**

I was sitting out on the porch watching the stars. _I've never had anyone to play with before. Spencer isn't much good at games and he always has other things to do. I'm so glad the Rangers came into my life. It's nice to have people around, people who know what I'm really like. _I smiled, remembering Rose's face fixed in concentration as I tried to teach her a new game. _She's awesome and so fun to play with. A good friend. _My heart sank a little. _We're friends right now and that's all we'll ever be._

**A/N: Okay, I wanted to throw that little "Mack's POV" in there just so you can see a little of how I think Mack is, and so you can see that they're both denying the attraction they feel.**

**Until I started writing this chapter I never realized that Mack's desire for Rose to have fun and the next episode "At All Costs" tied in together. More of that next chapter though.**


	9. At All Costs

Why is it that every time I look forward to a nice sleep in, something happens to mess things up? It was like that this morning. I was still in bed, huddled under the covers which were pulled up to my chin in an effort to keep warm. _I knew I shouldn't have left that window open._ I thought as I looked lazily at the clock. I was relieved to see that it was only 9:30. I snuggled down some more, thanking Hartford in my head for changing the schedule today. I was almost asleep again when I heard a pounding on my door.

"Rose? Rose are you awake?" Mack's voice came through the door.

"Go 'way." I mumbled loudly. There was a pause and then I heard him knocking again.

"Rose? You're missing breakfast."

"Schedule." I said lazily.

"Not today." He said gently as my eyes flew open. I sat up in bed.

"What day is it?" I said coherently.

"It's Tuesday. The schedule change is for tomorrow." I groaned loudly. Hartford was going to be so mad. I'll be over an hour late for dinner.

"Erm, I'll be right out." I said hurriedly throwing on my clothes. _Thank goodness I don't have to choose what I'm going to wear. _Running into the bathroom I ran a brush through my hair, throwing it up into a pony-tail. Grabbing my Tracker off the bedside table I threw open the door and ran straight into a wall. I started to fall back when my arm was grabbed and I was pulled upright.

"Whoa there, slow down," the wall was saying. Still groggy from sleep I looked up and saw Mack.

"Mack? When did you become a wall?" I said confusedly, causing him to laugh a little.

"Someone needs some breakfast," he remarked, walking beside me.

_He hasn't let go of my arm_. I noticed absentmindedly as we walked into the dining room.

"Hello Sleeping Beauty. Did Mack have to wake you up with a kiss?" Ronny teased. I glared at her and sat down hard on my chair.

"Umph." I growled, reaching for the food.

Hartford came into the room. "Okay Rangers, after breakfast you're going for a run."

"Run where?" Will said shoving a whole pancake into his mouth.

"Spencer knows the way to run and he'll explain it to you as you go along."

Dax choked on the water he was sipping. "Spencer's going running with us?"

Spencer looked up from where he was standing. "I shall be exercising a different set of muscles." He said shortly and walked into the kitchen.

"He means he'll be following you on a golf cart."

**-----PROO-----**

"You know, I'd like to try an experiment." I told Spencer.

"And what would that be, Rose?"

"I want to see if I'm able to keep up my invisibility while running for a long distance. I've never been able to try it before." I said as we all walked over to where the run would start.

"That's a great idea, Rose!" Mack said coming up next to me. "Here grab my arm." He said as he grabbed my arm. "Now you go invisible and let's start running." He took off running, dragging my along. _Great, Rose: your brilliant plan of them thinking you're running invisible when you're not even running backfired._

"Nice try, Rose." Mack was saying softly. "But you're not getting out of a run that easily." I glared invisibly at him. He had a huge grin on his face.

_Oh well, it would be an interesting experiment._ I thought as I increased my speed. Mack dropped my hand as I started to pull on him. After about ten minutes of running full-speed while invisible I felt myself being pushed to the limit. I recognized the signs of my invisibility draining my energy. If I hadn't been running it would have lasted longer.

I turned myself visible, collapsing underneath a tree. A few moments later everyone was crowded around me.

"Rose!" Dax yelled. "Are you okay? You were really far ahead of all of us."

"I'm fine, just need to rest for a moment." I said, closing my eyes. "I don't think I'll be able to run at full speed anymore, guys."

"Good, the rest of us will be able to keep up." Ronny said with a grin.

"Miss Rose, is everything alright?" Spencer said approaching the group.

"I'm fine Spencer, but I think my limit for running while invisible has been reached. Let's just get this run over with."

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to ride on the golf cart with me?" Spencer graciously offered. It was tempting, but I couldn't ride while everyone else ran.

"No thanks, Spencer. I'll be fine."

"Well we're almost half-way anyways." Mack said offering me a hand to help me up.

"Well then let's get going." I said and started running, the rest of them joining me. I found that I had to go quite a bit slower. I wasn't even running anymore, I was just jogging.

"Keep up the pace, only another mile to go." Spencer yelled from his golf cart. _Another mile? Oh man, I knew I shouldn't have pushed my invisibility limit._

"Wanna get out of the cart and jog along with us?" Will asked sarcastically.

"I do many things around the Hartford estate. Jogging is not one of them." _Breathe, Rose. In, out, in, out, in, out._

"I'm gonna pick it up coming in. Anyone care to join me?" _Ugh, if he'd only asked me that before._

"Uh, I, uh, I, uh, no." Dax mumbled from behind me.

"Do I look like I enjoy even going at this speed?" I said breathlessly. _Didn't he even remember that a few minutes ago I'd collapsed? Wait, Rose. He probably just forgot. They've probably all forgotten by now, its no big deal._ No big deal, but I was really finding it hard to even jog. My body was under a lot of stress from before.

"Gotcha." Mack said with a look of satisfaction on his face. _Oh great, he's going to get home before all of us and be, like, "oh look at me, I'm so fast, I reached here before the rest of you."_ I thought bitterly as Ronny asked if we were going to let him go.

"Uh huh." We all agreed as Ronny took off running after Mack. A few seconds later they were both out of sight beyond a curve.

"Are you okay?" Will had hurried so that he was jogging alongside of me.

"I'll be fine." I winced as a shot of pain went through my leg.

"No you're not fine." Will said firmly, stopping me with a hand.

"It's fine; I'm sure its nothing." I said as tears came into my eyes.

Will bent down at took my ankle in his hand. He moved it a little and I screamed in pain.

"Miss Rose, I must insist that you ride in the golf cart." Spencer said taking me firmly by the hand.

"No." I said firmly. "I want to finish this on foot."

"Alright, but I'm going to help you." Will said firmly. I nodded gratefully and put an arm around his shoulder. He slipped an arm around my waist and together we hobbled/jogged, Dax running on my other side to give me support if I slipped.

After five minutes of this we came across Mack, who was lying on his back, exhausted. "I should know better than to race with Ronny." He was saying.

"Well duh," Dax said running over to him. "She does have enhanced super-speed." Mack got up with Dax's help. Turning around he saw me and Will, his whole body tensing.

"What happened?"

"Oh nothing really-" I started to say.

"She's exhausted." Will said firmly. "Running while invisible drained her energy and after you left she turned her ankle." Mack's eyes widened.

"I'm fine," I grumbled.

"Why aren't you in the golf cart?" Mack said sternly.

I raised my chin. "I want to finish this run."

"No." Mack said firmly, tearing my away from Will by putting his arm around my waist.

"Mack!" I said as he carried me to the golf cart.

"Listen, Rose." He said quietly so that the others wouldn't hear. "We won't think any less of you for not finishing. If you run on that ankle you might make it worse, and we need you. Who knows what monsters we'll have to fight today."

"But-"

"No buts. I'm the Red Ranger and I'm ordering you to ride in the golf cart."

I smiled at him. "Well alright if you insist." I leaned back in the chair.

"What?" Mack said a surprised look on his face.

"You're ordering me not to run." I grinned. "That's enough for me." I smiled widely as Mack caught on to my idea.

"Whoa, you're sneaky." Mack said, an impressed look coming into his eye.

"Why thank you." I gave a half bow but winced as the pain went shooting up my leg. He must have seen the pain in my eyes because he turned to Spencer.

"Alright, let's get going."

**-----PROO-----**

By the time the Hartford estate was in view my ankle was healed. All a part of the re-sequencing I guess. I was able to run the rest of the way, and I ran full-speed, beating the rest of the Rangers. I turned around and smiled as I watched them jog in.

"Guys, please don't' say anything." I whispered as we entered the house. They all nodded and we entered the rec room.

"Hey what kept you? I'm on my second game already." Ronny said with a glimmer of triumph in her voice. _Okay, does she have to rub it in?_

Will responded to this by throwing his sweaty towel at Ronny. I grinned a little as she picked it off her shoulder with disgust. "Ew, you're all sweaty." She turned back to her game. I was too tired to move, I could only manage to look when Dax fell to the ground in exhaustion.

I sighed loudly. "Well I'm going to go have a shower." I headed out of the room.

"Hey, Rose! I'll race you!" Ronny yelled running past me and up the stairs.

**-----PROO-----**

After I'd showered and changed I felt a lot better. Hopefully after lunch my day would improve. I entered the dining room as lunch was being served.

"Hey Rose," Mack said, pulling out my chair for me. _And who says gentlemen don't exist anymore?_ **(A/N: actually I do, but Mack is a gentleman)** "How about after lunch we play a game?"

"Sure," I smiled, remembering our 'games day' that we'd had yesterday. "What did you want to play?"

"I-"

"Sorry, Mack." Hartford said as he entered the room. "I need you help with something after lunch."

"Okay Dad." Mack said, glancing apologetically at me. I shrugged back, showing that I was fine with it.

"I'll play with you, Rose." Dax offered.

"Oooh, me too!" Ronny said excitedly.

"I might as well join too." Will said lazily.

"Let's play Destiny!" Dax said excitement in his tone. "Every time I play I keep hoping that I'll get the car. But I never do."

"Okay well let's get eating so we can play." Ronny said firmly.

**-----PROO-----**

"One, two, three, four, five!" Dax said, his voice growing with excitement every time his figure moved. "A CAR!" He yelled. "Yes, yes, yes! I win a Convertible Armonatiga. Armona, Armonagesa?"

"A convertible Armongeti." I said, taking pity on him. "If you can't pronounce it, how can you expect to drive it?" I teased.

"He can't drive it." Will said calmly with a smile on his face. "It's plastic and an inch long."

"Yes, and its mine, all mine!" Dax said excitedly. Ronny was getting impatient.

"Quit yakking! C'mon lets roll the dice. My turn." She rolled and moved her piece, grabbing a card. "Take one possession from any player." She looked at Dax. If she took his car she would win.

"No!" Dax protested.

Ronny put the card back and rubbed her hands together. Dax had jumped up dramatically and back away from the table.

"Good, the game's over." Will said throwing down his money. Ronny started to count her money. It was a lot different playing with Ronny than it was with Mack.

I stared thoughtfully at Ronny. "Is winning that important to you?" I asked, thinking about how Dax had always tried to get the car.

"Um, yeah." Ronny said like it was a no-brainer. "Winning is what winners do. Where's your competitive spirit?"

I was getting a little annoyed at Ronny's always having to win. Isn't playing the game supposed to be fun? Winning isn't why you play the game. I tried to say what was on my mind as gently as I could. "I usually check it at the door when I'm with my friends."

She looked at me as if I was crazy. Luckily we were interrupted by Hartford and Mack coming through the doors.

"Game time's over." Hartford announced. "Anyone interested in testing out the new blaster, besides Mack?

Mack opened the case dramatically; smoke pouring randomly from the top of the case.

"Wow!" Will exclaimed.

"Check it out!" Ronny yelled, moving closer.

I looked at it admiringly. It really had turned out better than Spencer or I had expected. "Count me out. I've got a play date with Spencer testing Zord motherboards." I ran off to the garage.

I walked into the Zord bay. "Hey Spennis!"

"Posie," Spencer said walking towards me. "You aren't testing the new blaster?"

"Nah, we're going to work on the Zord motherboards right? I'd much rather do that than test out a gun." I grinned at him. "Besides, Zords would be more useful, seeing as every single monster we beat ends up growing to an enormous size."

"Ah, very true. But I'm afraid the motherboards aren't quite ready to work on yet. I was planning on helping Mack and whoever's helping him."

"Oh, well okay then, I can find something else to do." I walked out of the garage and into the command centre. Hartford was over at a computer. He looked up and nodded as I entered the room.

"Spencer break your date?" He said with a smile.

"More like the motherboards broke their date." I replied, walking over to a different computer and zeroed in on the Himalayas. _If I can get a video of Flurious, then we'll know when he's up to something. The Himalayas are where we were when that ice storm hit us, so I suppose it's a good place to start._ I punched in a few specifications.

"What are you working on?" Hartford's voice broke the silence.

I half-turned to face him. "I'm trying to get a video of Flurious. If we can have a camera trained on him then we'll be able to know when he's planning something." I shrugged. "It eliminates part of the surprise."

"Good thinking. I've been meaning to do that but I've been busy with other things." I nodded turning back to the computer. After a few moments of silence on my end, I waited respectfully as Hartford spoke to Mack and Ronny.

"Mr. Hartford." I had turned around so that I was facing him. He looked up expectantly.

"Yes, Rose? Oh, is your ankle better?"

"It was better a long time ago, thanks to the re-sequencing. Mr. Hartford, I just wanted to let you know that Mack is a great Ranger and a great leader."

"I know." He smiled at me. "I've been watching him, but it's always good to hear from his team-mates." I smiled back. "Rose." He said thoughtfully. "Get going."

"What?"

"You're always working. Get going, read a book or something." He smiled gently. "You work too much." I looked down at the ground, embarrassed. "Its not that we don't appreciate what you've done, we do. You've helped us a lot, but for now, take some time and read a book, or do a puzzle. Just relax."

I nodded and gave him a little smile. I headed upstairs to the library. I had just pulled out an interesting book when my Tracker went off. _Wouldn't you know it…_

**-----PROO-----**

We entered the command centre, each of us heading somewhere different to work on something.

"Rose." Hartford said warningly. "Remember what I said."

I gave him a small smile and sat down by the poles. _I guess if I do everything no one else will learn. I might not be able to use a computer but my brain can still think. Now they need a power source for the shield. What power sources are there? We already have the Sword of Neptune._

"It was the weirdest thing." Mack was explaining to Hartford. "When we arrived the Lava Lizards were fighting each other until there was just one left."

"Sounds similar to some early tribal customs." Hartford mused. "Where warriors amongst the same tribe would battle amongst themselves for riches or power."

"Heh," Ronny scoffed. "Thank goodness we've evolved from there."

I smiled a little. Ronny was so oblivious to how she was. _But then again, aren't we all oblivious to how we really are?_

"What?"

"I think I may have solved the drill blaster energy problem." Hartford said as Will came down the pole." I got up, interested. We all came closer to Hartford. "First I needed to find a dragon scale."

"What?" Will laughed disbelievingly.

A dragon scale? That might just work. "You know in Gaelic writings it is stated that a scale from a dragon holds enough energy to light the world."

"Exactly." Hartford smiled at me. Had he found a dragon scale?

"Dragons don't exist, and neither do their scales" Will stated with an indulgent smile. I shrugged. He might be surprised to learn that-

"I beg to differ. There were reports of a magical dragon outside of a city called Briarwood." Exactly what I was about to say. "I purchased a scale from a record-store owner who claims it's from a dragon called Fire-heart. When the time comes I'd like Mack to be the first to try it."

I rolled my eyes as Ronny started to speak. _Who would have guessed that Ronny wanted to be the first one?_ I thought sarcastically. "Mack? Look, I can do anything he can do and chances are I can do it better." I looked down at the ground and held back a retort. _What is with this girl?_ "I've proved myself over and over again and on the range I have the highest scores."

"I know all of that Ronny, and-"

"It's alright, Dad. Ronny can go first." Mack offered generously. I smiled at him and he gave a small shrug.

"Yes!" Ronny cheered. I rolled my eyes and headed upstairs, the rest of the Rangers behind me.

"What are you planning to do this afternoon?" Mack said leaning over my shoulder.

"I turned to face him, finding that his face was only inches away from my own. I looked into his blue eyes and found myself losing the capacity to think clearly.

"Um, this morning. Found a book. Library. Read." I mumbled.

"Nice." He straightened up. "I have a book I've been trying to finish. I was half-way through it when we started this Power Rangers thing, and since then I've hardly been able to read more than five pages at the same time."

"Yeah, things have been pretty busy. I've noticed that our 'free time' hasn't been spent freely at all, what with monsters and the jewels and everything." I chuckled. "I think we need to review the schedule."

"I agree." Dax stuck his head in between Mack and me.

"What are you going to do now, Dax?" Mack asked.

"I'm going to town and see if I can find any acting parts for me." I smiled encouragingly at him.

"That's a great idea, Dax. It would be awesome for you to have a job. I hope you find something that you like."

"Yeah, hopefully it'll be something better than a dwarf detective." He frowned, his memory bringing back the newspaper. As I watched I saw the sadness come into his eyes.

"That was the day you met Mira, wasn't it?" I said gently.

"She wasn't any good for you." Mack said firmly.

Dax gave a bitter laugh. "Now you tell me." He wandered out the door and down the driveway.

"Poor Dax." I sighed. "It's terrible when you have a crush on someone and they don't return your feelings."

Mack looked at me closely. Did he know that I was talking about him? It was obvious, wasn't it? _He only feels friendship for me. Every thing that he says confirms that_ **(A/N: poor, blind Rose…)** _he didn't feel anything more for me. In fact, several things pointed to Ronny. He looked at Will funnily whenever he put his arm around her, or did something for her. He always seems to act differently around her than he does me._ I turned abruptly and ran up to the library, closing the door behind me and leaning against it for support.

_Mack must never know how I really feel about him. It would ruin everything._ Sighing softly I walked over to the shelf and selected the book that I'd chosen earlier that morning. I had just opened the cover and read the title when my Tracker beeped.

"Rose, we need you to help escort the dragon scale from the warehouse." Hartford's voice came through my Tracker.

"Sure thing, Mr. Hartford." Putting the book down on a table I left the room for the second time that day.

**-----PROO-----**

"How come you always get to drive?" I asked absentmindedly as Mack drove the jeep back to the Hartford estate.

"Because I'm the tallest." He grinned and stuck his tongue out at me.

"What are we, two?" I laughed as I stuck mine out back at him. We drove in silence for a few moments. I was sneaking sideways glances at Mack, who looked troubled. "What's wrong, Mack?"

He sighed. "I think I might have said something a little harsh to Ronny."

"What was it and why did you say it?"

"I said she took the fun out of playing any game. She'd been pestering me to play foosball with her and said it would be fun."

I considered for a moment. "You might have said just the right thing. I tried to say something too, earlier while you were helping with the blaster. We'd been playing Destiny and she won, taking Dax's car away from him. I asked her if winning was really important to her and she replied with 'winning's what winners do.' She asked where my competitive spirit was."

"And what did you say?" Mack asked, turning to look at me.

"I said I checked it at the door when I was playing with my friends." I said softly. _I probably shouldn't have said that, I mean, what do I know about playing games? That's probably where my competitive spirit went: out of games and into academics. I can be pretty competitive when it comes to writing papers, or grades, or other things._

"So being subtle didn't work." Mack mused, bringing me back to our conversation.

"So maybe coming right out and saying it was the right thing to do." I told him, seeing him visibly relax at this.

"I hope she took the not-so-subtle hint." He grinned at me as he guided the jeep into the garage.

As I got out my mind started whirling. _Okay, well obviously the scale had a lot of energy, but is there another reason that Moltor wanted it? The Lava Lizard he upgraded, Volcon looked a little bit like a dragon._

"I think I know what Moltor's planning on doing." I announced quietly to the group. We had all taken up posts at different computers. "He's planning on turning that scale into a shield for Volcon."

"A super lizard?" Will said doubtfully.

I shrugged. "If he heated the scale up to a high enough temperature the heat would cause the scale to expand. If Volcon was standing near enough it could create a shield, which would make him invincible."

"Then we'd better find that scale fast." Hartford said determinedly turning back to his own computer.

After a few moments of silence Dax spoke. "There's no sign of Moltor Mr. Hartford."

Hartford looked up uncomfortably. "Dax, can you please call me Andrew? Every time you say Mr. Hartford I look around for my father." _Imagine how Mack feels,_ I chuckled silently to myself.

"Got it: you want us to think of you as someone young." Dax stated calmly. I had to restrain myself from laughing out loud. **(A/N: I'm in the library writing this and I have to force myself not to laugh out loud. Definitely a funniest moment) **I glanced at Mack to see his reaction. He had a smile on his face and was holding back laughter as well.

"Ow." Hartford stated. I figured that I'd better change the subject fast.

"No sign of them here either. "The Northern quadrant is clear." I wasn't too surprised; chances were that Moltor would keep Volcon and the scale in the city.

"Keep looking," Hartford said as he looked over my shoulder to read the screen. "He'll show."

"Oh no doubt of it." Will said, pressing a few buttons. "But wouldn't it be better to find him _before_ he shows?"

_My computer won't show anything. I need to be looking at a computer that scans the temperature._ I glanced around and noticed that Mack's computer was doing that. I walked over to stand beside him. "Anything? This temperature scanner would be our best bet, because they're going to be heating up that scale."

"Well a global map wouldn't work the best, because chances are that Moltor's keeping the scale right here in the city." Mack said, pressing more buttons in order to zoom into a specific section. "Here we go: the city of San Angeles."

"Where's Ronny?" I asked in a louder tone of voice, addressing the entire group

"She said something about needing to talk with Spencer." Will answered, leaning in to read something that was written on his screen.

"Spencer's a very good person to talk to. If you need to talk to someone, that is." I commented as I leaned forward to look at the map.

Mack turned his head and said quietly, so no one would hear but me "you can always talk to me, you know." I looked at him, his eyes were serious, and his mouth was in a firm line.

"I know, Mack." I sighed and turned back to the screen. "But there are certain things that, well," I shrugged, not knowing how to put it into words. "There are things I talk to Mr. Hartford about, usually to do with the team or the mission. Spencer is a good advisor and I can talk 'shop' with him. There are things I talk to Ronny about, girl stuff you know. Dax is like a childhood buddy, I know I can laugh and joke with him. Will is, well I hardly ever talk about things with him. Usually its just mundane stuff." I paused, not knowing whether to continue or not.

"And me?" Mack asked softly so that I could barely hear him, answering my unspoken question.

"You? I can talk with you about anything. I can laugh and joke with you, I can talk about the mission, ask advice." I looked up at him. He had a small smile on his face.

"But no girl stuff?" He said teasingly.

I laughed, "well how would you answer the question: 'I can't decide whether to get dusky pink eye shadow or blush pink. Which do you think would get him – I mean would make my eyes more noticeable?'" I held my breath, hoping that he hadn't caught my slip-up.

"Easy," Mack gave a little laugh. "You'd look amazing in either of them." He smiled at me.

"Very sweet Mack. But that's just the thing: you can't talk girl talk. No guy _really_ can, because you have no idea what we go through."

"Eye shadow?" Mack lifted an eyebrow.

"As I told Dax: there's girl talk and there's girl talk. There's the girl talk we talk about in front of guys, and when we're alone its totally different." I turned back to the computer, zooming in a little bit closer to a particularly hot spot. "Bingo!" I cried, pressing buttons so that a video showed on the big screen showing that location. "He's in that building."

"So what are we waiting for?" Mack said as we ran to the garage.

**-----PROO-----**

"I'm bored." Dax whined. We were all sitting in the rec room. "Wanna go do something?"

"Well I've got a book-" I started to say, remembering the book that I'd tried to start before.

"Come on, Rose. You can't spend your whole life stuck in a book." Will said as he fingered a pool cue. I bit my bottom lip. _Doesn't he see, doesn't anyone see that I don't do that? I've hardly had any time to read since we got here, I've mainly been fighting, training or working on Zords._

"Hey Mack, wanna play some foosball?" Ronny asked, getting up and grabbing Mack's hand.

"Sure." He followed her to the table.

"Let's go see a movie." Dax suggested. I nodded eagerly. _This is a really nice house, but sometimes it's nice to get out._

"Great, I'm coming too." Will announced. "Ronny, Mack? You coming?" But they were already engrossed in their game.

**-----PROO-----**

"It's quiet." Will said as we stepped into the mansion. As soon as he said it we heard voices coming from the rec room.

"You spoke too soon." I smiled as I headed towards the sounds.

"Guys look at this." Will said to us as we walked forward. "You guys are still playing?"

"We went to a movie and grabbed some burgers." Dax said with disbelief.

"What are you up to, like 90 games or something?" I asked looking at the score.

"Same game." Ronny said shortly.

"Tied score." Mack said breathlessly.

"You know it's just a matter of time before you're going down." Ronny said flipping her men expertly. "I've never lost."

"Yeah, nor have I. Granted I've only played Spencer and that's not too much to brag about." I grinned, knowing that Spencer was listening through the vents. Sure enough his answer came right away.

I stepped closer as the game got more intense. Making sure to keep a good distance away I shifted my body so as to get a better view. No one said a word as they both bent down closer, each one not willing to break their non-losing streak. With a final expertly timed twist Mack shot the ball into the goal.

He leapt into the air, yelling "yes! Yeah!" He stopped as we all looked at Ronny.

"I lost?" She said with a baffled look on her face. _Oh man, how is she going to take this? Hopefully she's learnt something today, oh I hope so, otherwise Mack is so dead._ I squared my shoulders a little. _If you're going to kill Mack, you're gonna have to go through me._ Suddenly she laughed. I looked at Mack warily. _Is this an evil maniacal laugh?_ "You know its not so bad." I smiled in relief. "Anyone want to play another?"

"NO!" We all yelled. She pouted and crossed her arms, laughing.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I was a jerk about winning before." She gave a little shrug. "I guess I've just always been that way. I have a lot of brothers and sisters."

"It's okay, Ronny." Will said walking forward and putting his arm around her.

"Yeah, its nothing." Mack said hurriedly. _Another reaction to the arm._ I sighed. "What's wrong, Rose?" Mack said, hearing my sigh.

"Oh nothing, I'm just tired I suppose. I'm going to get to bed early." I walked up the stairs, taking a few extra moments to grab that book from the library. Maybe I'd finally get a chance to read it tonight.


	10. Both Sides Now

**A/N: Okay, I'm really, really, really, really, really, really, really sorry for not updating before, but writing these chapters always seem to take about 5 hours, and I just haven't had that much time. Work has been busy and I have other projects at home that get in the way. But I'm updating now, so everything's good, right?**

**-----PROO-----**

I was in the gym working with a punching bag when my Tracker beeped, letting me know that Hartford wanted to see us in the Command Centre. Hastily towelling off my sweat I changed into my uniform. _I hate it when I don't have time to take a shower._ I was thinking as I rushed down the main stairs in the house to the elevator.

"-located at this address in Turkey. You'd better act fast, because I have a feeling that Miratrix may be watching your every move, waiting for the change to grab whatever we can get our hands on."

"Sorry I'm late." I apologized the moment I could get a word in.

"No worries, Rose." Hartford smiled at me then handed me a book. "You've got to get going; the others will fill you in on the way." The group of Rangers headed towards the door, but I stayed behind.

"Um, sir? Is there time for me to take a shower? I've just come from my workout."

"Come on, Rose. You can take one in the SHARC. We've got to go!" Mack said as he grabbed my hand and dragged me out the door.

**-----PROO-----**

"Okay guys, what are we going to get?" I said as we stepped off the SHARC. My shower had lasted the whole trip _(I went as fast as I could. Honest!)_ They hadn't had the time to fill me in before.

"We're here for a bird." Dax said. "Now where did he say it would be?"

"Here's an address. Though how we're ever going to find our way through this city is beyond me. It's like a maze." Ronny commented, pulling out the piece of paper with the address on it.

"Don't worry; I've been in Istanbul enough to know my way around. This street is near the Orange Bazaar, which is this way." Will said as he started walking. We followed him, Dax and Ronny right behind him. Mack and I were following a bit behind as Mack opened the book to show me what we were looking for. As soon as I saw the picture my heart began to race.

"It's not just _a_ bird; it's the Ho-oh." I said, catching the attention of the rest of the group, who stopped and turned towards me. I started walking forward, explaining as I walked backwards. "The legendary King of birds and according to legend if you set it free it will give you clue to find the Touru diamond."

Will pushed past me, holding up his Tracker, a digital map of the city visible on the screen. "I thought you knew the city?" Ronny teased him, a grin on her face.

"It's been a while since I was here last." Will shouted back to the rest of us, barely audible over the noise of the bazaar.

"What's the Touru diamond?" Dax asked as he pushed past a few people.

"The world's more precious diamond, or so according to legend. It bestows the holder with great power."

"It's kind of funny. We come to Turkey to pick up a statue of a bird. "Turkey – bird, get it?" Dax said, laughing at his own joke.

_I'm sure glad we decided to wear our vests instead of jackets today. It's really hot here._ "Do you stay up late thinking of stuff like that to say?" Ronny laughed.

I laughed, throwing my head back so that my searching wouldn't be too obvious. I was looking for Mack. We seemed to have lost him in the crowd; I hadn't seen him for a few minutes. _Maybe he's been mugged by someone here at the bazaar. Maybe they're holding him at dagger-point. Oh this is silly. He's a Ranger; he knows how to handle himself._ _Oh there he is. He's fine._

"Play time's over. The office is this way." Will said sharply, holding out his Tracker with a map of the city visible on the screen.

"Thought you knew your way around the city? Our source said they'd leave the door open" Will said as he stood in front of the opening. The door had been blown off. A few feet past the opening we could see the door on the floor. We slowly entered the building. _Something isn't right._ My heart started to race. _This could be a trap. How easy would it be? Maybe someone else has beaten us to the Ho-oh bird._

"Something's not right." I voiced my concerns to the others. A few of the others activated the flashlights on our Trackers.

"Sure it's not a cultural thing?" Will said as we started to walk forward down the dark tunnel. "When they say leave the door open, they mean 'blasted off its hinges.'"

I was becoming increasingly uneasy. Something about this place spooked me out. "Let's find the safe, get to Ho-oh statue and get out of here." I said, gripping Mack's arm as I stumbled over a piece of wood.

"Easy there." He whispered softly, switching his flashlight to his right hand. He put his left hand on my back, as if to guide me. It was soft and warm and immediately I felt better.

We stepped through another doorway and, a few feet in front of us, Will stopped. Hurrying forward I saw what he had seen. The safe was demolished and empty. "We're too late!" I sighed.

"Lets get back to the Command Centre, there's nothing else we can do here." Mack said turning around and going back. We had left Ronny and Dax outside the building and we hurried to tell them the news.

"So let's see what this Ho-oh bird looks like." Dax said excitedly.

"Unfortunately you won't get to see it yet." Mack said gesturing for us to follow him.

"What, we didn't get it?" Ronny asked Will.

"Nope. Someone was here before us. And every moment they have that bird means they're moments ahead of us. We've got to get going as fast as we can!" Will said as he broke out into a run, the rest of us following suit.

**-----PROO-----**

We'd explained the situation to Hartford, who was looking very grim. "Team, stay here and look for it. Will, I'd like to see you in my office." He walked out of the room and Will rolled his eyes.

"Here we go." He said and followed.

We spent a few minutes at the computer, but since we didn't know what to look for it was pretty hard. "Hey Dax, could you go try and find Spencer? He's in the kitchen."

"Sure thing Mack." Dax said and ran off.

"Okay, well let's try and think. How could someone have known what we were looking for?" Mack said with a frown on his face.

I shrugged. "Perhaps the person whom we were to get it from was playing the two ends against the middle."

Dax came sliding down the pole, the screeching sound drawing our attention. "Will's still up in Andrew's office." He said excitedly, having completely forgotten why he was sent upstairs in the first place.

"Dad's probably giving him a new Zord or something, for all the hard work he's been doing." Mack said with a shrug.

_New Zord? If there is a new Zord I don't know anything about it, and I help BUILD the Zords. Besides, if that was the case, why would he need to talk to Will privately about it? The other Zords had been presented in front of the group. No, it's something bigger than that._

"I've been doing great work, why don't I get a new Zord?" Dax complained. I couldn't help smiling. He had no idea that plans for his new Zord were being worked on.

The elevator doors opened and Hartford came through, a sad look on his face. "You've probably been speculating on why I've called Will to my office." We all hurriedly denied it. But out denials were cut short at his next words. "I let Will go."

_What? You've got to be kidding me. Will is our best Ranger! Well, after Mack that is._

"Will? Gone?" Ronny said, walking forward to stand beside me. I could see the disbelief in her eyes.

"This was not an easy call to make." Hartford said, his voice filled with sorrow. "But his actions left me no choice. Let this be a warning to you, team." His voice filled with steel. It sounded almost angry. "I asked Will to leave me his Tracker, but he didn't. That's a lot of power for someone so unstable."

"What did he do?" Ronny burst out; I walked over to her and put my arm around her shoulder. I could see that she was near tears.

"He sold some of our Ranger technology." Hartford said shortly.

"Which technology?" I asked sharply, my eyes narrowing.

Hartford looked down at the ground. "Some Zord technology. Does it really matter? We've got to work even harder now. Will may even decide to go after the Corona Aurora on his own."

"Let's get working." Mack said as he turned back to his computer. Ronny nodded and walked over to one of her own. I looked at Hartford scrutinizingly. _There's something wrong here. Zord technology?_

After a few minutes I looked over at Ronny, she was just staring at the computer. I hurried over to her and started rubbing her back. "Hey," I whispered. "It's going to be okay." I soothed.

"I just don't understand!" Ronny whispered back, her eyes filling with tears. "How could he do this to us? To me." She looked at me with anguish in her eyes.

"I can imagine how you feel. If Mack ever did anything like that I'd, well I'd. I don't know what I'd do." _Should I tell her about my suspicions? Nah, there must be a reason for it, and I'll trust Hartford and Will._

I sighed and walked over to Mack's computer. His mouth was set in a grim line. I didn't want to bother him so I moved away.

"Will may have broken a rule or two. Or three." Ronny said, walking to the other side of the Command Centre, unable to keep her thoughts. "But he's not going to turn against us. It's just a Tracker."

"With enough power to cause world-wide destruction." Dax pointed out.

"Better keep looking?" I said, turning my attention back to the computer monitor. _Ronny's right, but I want to know the real reason why he was fired. Selling technology, give me a break. Anyone with an ounce of sense could see right through that._ "I've got him." I said. "They're downtown and I've got the co-ordinates on my Tracker."

**-----PROO-----**

Ronny was so upset after the battle with Will and Camdor that she couldn't even ride her motorcycle. I drove her back in the jeep while Mack rode her cycle. It was a very silent trip back.

"Well if there was any doubt about Will I guess that's been resolved." Mack said his voice cold with anger.

"I'd have bet anything that Will would never have gone to the other side. And I don't lose bets." Ronny had regained her composure.

"I can't believe he's with her!" Dax burst out, and my heart filled with compassion. "You don't just hook up with a friend's ex!" _Whoa, okay that is totally something a girl would say. Why would a guy care about that?_

I looked at Ronny, who was looking at me as well. We looked at Dax for an explanation.

"Man Law." Mack and Dax said together. _I had no idea that guys have their own little laws about dating the same as we girls do._

Ronny looked away. _Great, on top of Will's going to the 'dark side' she's also got to deal with Will having a thing for Miratrix._ She moved to a corner and I followed.

"I thought he liked me." She whispered, turning to me. I could see a tear running down her cheek. I put my arms around her and she cried on my shoulder. _Okay, this is awkward, since she's taller than I am. Why is it I'm always the one comforting other people about their problems?_

"He's a jerk." I said angrily, moving Ronny away. I didn't care that Mack and Dax could heat what I was saying, all I was thinking about was Ronny. "Do you hear? He's a jerk! And a fool." My voice lowered, but didn't lose its angry overtones. "If he couldn't see how wonderful you are then he must be blind. And if he did then he's a fool for giving you up." Ronny gave a small watery smile.

"Thanks Rose, for trying to make me feel better."

"No problem," I whispered as her head returned to my shoulder. _With Will gone, would Ronny's affections turn to Mack? Stop it Rose, this is no time to be selfish. Ronny is hurting._

Suddenly I felt Ronny stiffen. She straightened and her eyes were full of cold anger. "Okay guys, enough lolly-gagging. We've got to get Will's Tracker back." Ronny said, moving over to a computer.

"Right, I'll set up the computer to search." I said with a smile and started the computer.

A few minutes later we were no closer, and Hartford had entered the room, acting like an impatient kid. "How about now?"

I rolled my eyes. "Nothing, not a sign of Will's Tracker's imprint anywhere."

"How can he block his signal?" Mack wondered.

"You know Will. If there's a way, he'll find it." Ronny said, her voice laced with iron.

"Wait a second, go back." Dax had seen the same thing I had. "Right there." He pointed to a glowing dot that indicated a Tracker.

"That's an awfully weak signal." Ronny pointed out.

"But it's a place to start." Mack sighed as we headed to the garage. A few seconds later we were on our way. "Is Ronny going to be okay?"

"She'll be fine. She's past the hurting stage and is now angry. Which is a good thing to be right now. She'll be able to fight. Hopefully we'll be able to get his Tracker back now, before she returns to the sad stage.

"And are you going to be okay?" Mack asked, taking his eyes off the road and looking at me.

"I'll be fine." _Should I tell Mack about my suspicions? Nah, the less people who know about it the better. I just wish I could tell Ronny._

**-----PROO-----**

"Because he and Will have set us up. Am I right?" I said with a smile, my suspicions were true.

"As you usually are, Rose." Hartford said with a smile.

"Then Will hasn't joined Miratrix?" Dax was starting to put the pieces together.

"Not exactly" and Hartford explained the whole scheme to us.

"So you didn't really fire Will?" Ronny said a smile on her face.

"No, Will convinced me that to go undercover successfully we all had to be convincing or it could have cost him his life.

_Ha, I knew his being fired was phoney. No one, NO ONE, not even Will could have touched the Zord technology without my having knowledge of it._

"So now we hope that Miratrix has bought Will's act as you all did."

I smiled. _Not all of us._ Mack noticed my smile. "Rose? Did you know about this?"

"I had my suspicions. All that about stealing Zord technology was fake. I've worked on the Zords and with their plans. No one could have touched them without my knowing."

"Even Will?" Ronny asked with a smile.

"Even Will. He may be good, but I'm smart." I smiled back at her. "Okay guys, we've still got some work to do."

We all separated to do our different jobs. Half an hour later we were having no luck, when all of a sudden Ronny broke the silence, turning the volume of her computer up. The room was filled with the sounds of beeping.

"Hey cool it everyone. I'm picking up something."

"Ah, it's probably just static." I turned in my chair. _That beeping sounds familiar._

"No, it's too rhythmic." Mack was saying as I turned in my chair. _Rhythmic! I've got it._

"Shah." I listened for a few moments, confirming my theory. "It's Morse Code. It might be a message from Will." I picked up a pad and pencil and hurried over to the console where the rest of the team was gathered.

"Can anyone translate Morse Code?" I raised my pencil in the air. "By the age of four." I said apologetically. I hate bragging about how I'm a 'child prodigy.' I started to write, every letter confirming Hartford's story. "Mr. Hartford was right; she has the Ho-oh." The message started to repeat itself and I put the pad down. "If Will was able to send us this message then he's in an area where we'll be able to locate his Tracker imprint." I rushed over to a different computer and started the search.

Mack came over to stand beside me. "You know, you really are a handy person to have hanging around."

**-----PROO-----**

"Glad you guys got my tapping." Will said as we all sunk into the couch.

"Well we never would have if it hadn't been for Rose." Dax said with a smile at me. I smiled back sadly. "Rose is the brains of the entire operation. Get it, Operation!" Everyone laughed and I chuckled weakly.

"You know guys, I'm kind of tired, and so I'm going to head up to bed early. I'll see you tomorrow morning." I got up and walked up to my room. I needed to be alone. I walked out onto the deck and leant on the railing, taking in the view, the sun was setting

"Is everything alright?" Mack's voice came softly from over my shoulder.

"When I look out onto this view its like evil doesn't even exist. Like there's nothing bad in the world." I chuckled. "And now I sound like a person in a cheesy movie."

Mack came up and stood beside me. "Its views like this that keeps me fighting. People are bad, but things like this remind me that there's still good in the world. **(A/N: no reflection of my personal beliefs)**. But there's something bothering you, Rose. What is it?"

I sighed and looked at Mack. He was looking at me with such compassion that I felt I could tell him anything. "Okay, it bothers me when people talk about how smart I am. I mean, hearing you father tell me that I'm always right is fine, but when people talk about how I'm a genius it bothers me."

"Why does it bother you that you're smart?" Mack said a confused look on his face.

"It doesn't bother me that I'm smart, it bothers me that my being smart is all people ever see."

"Oh, I think I understand. I go through the same thing, only differently. Stereotyping. People look at me and see a spoiled, rich daddy's boy. They never even stop to consider that I'm not spoiled, and that there's so much more to me than my dad's money."

"Exactly!" I cried, glad that I found someone who understood. "They put me in a box. I suppose that's why I dress the way I do. My way of breaking out of the box."

"Meh, I've learned that some people will always view you in a certain way, and you shouldn't let it bother you. I just be myself and if they can't handle it then they can go jump in a lake." I laughed and turned back to the sunset. "It's what Dax said, wasn't it? About you being the brains of the outfit?"

I nodded. "Its like the team only thinks of me as a brain, the person who knows everything. I do a bit more than think, you know. I do my fair share of kicking monster butt out there." My voice had risen so that I was shouting. I didn't realize that I had been until he spoke.

"I know, Rose." His quiet voice broke through my momentary anger. "You're so much more than a genius. You're a sweet girl who's kind and never thinks of herself first." He chuckled. "Not to mention you can inflict some serious damage if you chose to."

I blushed at hearing Mack describe me in that way. We stood for a few minutes, staring into each others eyes.

"Uh, I've got to go. Its getting late and I've got to go to bed." Mack said hurriedly, breaking the eye contact. He seemed flustered. I was confused.

"Oh, alright then." I said disappointedly as he walked to his own room. Sighing I headed into my own. Why did it seem like after every step forward we took two steps back?

**A/N: Again, sorry for not updating sooner. This is the first time off I've had where I've been able to spend enough time to write a long chapter like this.**


	11. Follow the Ranger

**A/N: I am SO sorry for not updating sooner, but as most of you know, work has been really busy lately. I haven't had a proper break in 4 weeks. I was planning on updating on Sunday, but we made a surprise trip to Osoyoos for the day. Some family was camping there for the long weekend (Happy B.C. day!) so we drove over to visit them.**

**On a happier note: I got my new laptop last week (woot!)**

**-----PROO-----**

"Someone's looking a little grumpy." I said as I sat down on the couch next to Mack. He was staring, or rather _glaring_, at the closed book in his hand. "What did that book ever do to you?" He didn't answer me, just kept his eyes focused on the book. "Is everything alright, Mack?"

"Humph." He grunted, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Well alright then, I'll leave you and your book alone." I got up and stomped away angrily. _I was just trying to help. Why do I eve bother?_

_beep beep_ my tracker went off, signalling me to go to the Command Centre. I hurried down the steps to see Ronny, Will, Dax and Hartford gathered around a computer.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" I said walking forward.

"Rose!" Hartford yelled joyously. "The computer just went haywire, it started doing all these weird things and making odd sounds."

I walked over to the computer. "What did you do?"

"Nothing. The computer froze so I pressed a bunch of keys hoping it would work." Dax explained with a serious look on his face. I hid my grin and mentally rolled my eyes.

"Okay Dax, how long was the computer frozen for?"

"Um, about a minute." My eyes widened.

"What were you doing when it 'froze'?"

"I was running a test or something, and the number stopped moving." I shut my eyes and groaned in my head as I started to fix the problem. _Trust Dax to go and mess everything up like that. Whoa, where did that thought come from? It wasn't very nice. Mack. Stupid Mack put me in a bad mood. What was wrong with him anyways?_

"There you go, Dax. Next time, call me before you go pressing random buttons." I said with a grin.

I walked over to my own computer and stared at it, lost in my thoughts.

"Rose? What's wrong?" Ronny's voice startled me out of my daze.

"Huh? Oh, nothing Ronny." I said starting to press some buttons, pretending to be busy.

"Come on, I know you better than that." She said putting a hand on my fingers, stilling their frantic movements.

I sighed. "Okay, I went to the living room this morning during our time off-"

"Yeah, the schedule thing didn't work out, did it?" Ronny interrupted with a grin. She was right; the parts of the schedule that had said 'free time' had basically been thrown in the garbage.

"Anyways, I went into the living room and Mack was there, sitting on the couch glaring at the book in his hands. So I went up to him and tried to talk to him, asked him what's wrong. He grunted at me."

"He just probably didn't want to be bothered."

"But he didn't have to GRUNT at me." My voice filled with hurt. "He could have just said 'Rose, I'd kinda like to be alone now.' But noo-ooo. He grunted."

"Well you know what my Aunt Sara always says? 'What do you expect from a pig but a grunt?' **(A/N: Who can tell me where I got that line from? Hint: the name of the person who says it is Sara)**"

I smiled at her and laughed. "Thanks Ron."

"Guys, or gals, or whatever. Flurious and Moltor are attacking in the city." Dax interrupted.

"Both? Together?" Ronny asked, confused.

"Yeah I know, weird isn't it?"

"No time to analyze, let's Ranger up!" Will said.

**-----PROO-----**

"It's all my fault." I said quietly as I watched the computers scan the globe for Mack's Power signature.

"Hey, don't talk like that." Will said coming up behind me.

"It's true. The Zords should have been better. Should have been better equipped, better defences-"

"Rose. There wasn't anything any of us could have done differently. Mack should have ejected with the rest of us. I wonder why he didn't." Dax wondered.

"Hey listen to this, Mack must have activated the speaker button. We can hear what's going on around his Tracker." Ronny gestured for us to come to her computer and listen.

"_Sorry I wasn't able to make it out in time. I turned on my Tracker's speaker so that you can get a clue as to where we're being taken. You see now why I didn't come along? We need to get the megaZord back. We're heading west, that's all I can tell. Hey! It's an island. It looks like something out of "Voyage of the Dawn Treader," you know that really old BBC production of the Chronicles of Narnia series?"_

"Doesn't he realize how dangerous it is?" I said angrily.

"_Rose, I just want to say something before I inevitably get captured. I'm sorry about this morning. I was annoyed and I wasn't thinking properly."_

I smiled and Ronny put her hand on my shoulder. "I told you so." She whispered.

"_Anyways, here they come. Hey, let go of me. There's too many!"_ Static was heard as Mack moved around, trying to fight.

"_Let me go."_

"_Let's destroy him now!"_

"That's Moltor." Will commented.

"It's a shame Mack's out of range. Otherwise we'd be able to find his signature on our Trackers.

"_You'll never get away with this." _More static was heard.

"_Let me put your mind at ease. This island is completely secret." That's Flurious._

"_You underestimate them." _My heart lifted as I heard how confident he was. He was so completely confident in our abilities.

"Come on guys, we have to look harder." I said, moving over to the search computer. "He said they were heading west, to an island."

"Yeah, because there aren't too many islands in the Pacific Ocean." Will commented sarcastically, but turned to his own computer.

"_What's this I see on your Tracker? A speaker button? Well we can't have the Rangers overhearing our plans as I have your Tracker in my hand every single minute while you're behind bars. Hear this, Ranger. We have your megaZord and your leader. You might as well give up. But since I know you won't, we'll have a little surprise handy the next time we see you. Crr-"_ The line went dead as Flurious turned off the speaker.

We stood, looking at each other for a few minutes, and then doubled our efforts. "Okay, let's think guys. If he's captured somewhere, he's going to do whatever it takes to send a distress signal."

"And when he does we'll have to get to him as quickly as possible." Will finished.

"And we'll need some serious firepower." Dax added.

"We'd better get those Zords fixed and fast." Ronny said, joining us in front of the main computer. "Who wants to be on my pit crew?"

_Well there's nothing else I can do here, Spencer'll have it under control. And they'll need me to tell them what to repair._ I thought as I ran to the garage.

"Um, Rose? What do we do first?" Dax said staring up at the huge machines.

"Okay, everybody get to a machine. I'll take the motherboards and work on those. The computer in the Command Centre will notify us when he's been found." I said as I hurried to each of the Zords and gathered the motherboards. They were fried. "Uh oh, this doesn't look too good."

"Can you fix them?" Ronny asked anxiously.

"Um, more like I'll have to rebuild them. But don't you worry guys; you're working with a pro." I said with a grin at the others. I carried the motherboards to a table and opened my tool kit that I kept there. With a sigh, and a reminder not to think about Mack, I started the reparations.

_Okay, blue wire… maybe I can add a few extra things… red wire… we'll probably have to fight both monsters again… screwdriver… I hope Mack's okay… pliers…_

**-----PROO-----**

"How are those motherboards coming?" Dax said coming up beside me.

"I'm almost done." I said. "I just need to connect this wire and there! The last one's done. Lets get these back in the Zords and we can get back to the Command Centre"

"Alright, way to go Rose!" Ronny said as she came over. "All the other repairs are done. Let's get back to the Command Centre."

"I don't believe I've ever worked that fast in my life." Will said rubbing his shoulder as we walked to the doors of the Centre.

"I know what you mean. Great teamwork, guys." Dax said as the doors opened.

"Ready to rip!" Ronny announced to Hartford and Spencer.

"Any word?" I asked anxiously. As I finished speaking Spencer leapt (that's right, he LEAPT) from his chair. Quickly regaining his composure he explained.

"Yes! I've got him."

"Woo-hoo! Yeah!" The boys yelled as we dropped what we were carrying and went back into the garage.

"I hope he's okay." I said as I got into my secondary Zord.

"Don't worry, Rose." Dax said over the communicator.

"Yeah, he'll be fine." Will assured me.

"Okay, does _everybody_ know that I like him?"

"Yup!" They all said in unison.

"Okay, enough about me and my lack of a relationship with a guy that I think is totally awesome. Can we just get on to saving him?"

"Let's rev 'em up!" We yelled as we activated our Zords.

"We're out of here." I said excitedly as we headed out the Zord bay doors.

"I've programmed the location of the island into your Trackers, which will tell the Zords where to go."

"I see him!" Dax said as a dot indicating the megaZord appeared on our map.

"We'll be near him in moments." I told Hartford.

"Under water here we come. I'll dig the hole, you all follow." Ronny said as her Zord started to dig a hole large enough for the rest of us to follow.

"Whoo-hooo!" Will yelled as we went flying out of the hole into the air.

Mack's window appeared on my communications panel. As the other Rangers gave their greeting to Mack, all I said was "come on, Rangers." _I don't think any words could describe how I feel seeing that you're alive and unharmed._ "Let's show him our stuff."

**-----PROO-----**

"That Super Drivemax megaZord is totally awesome!" Mack was saying enthusiastically. Everyone was talking about how great the battle was, and how relieved they were that Mack was okay, and laughing at how he'd tricked Flurious and Moltor. I was silent for this. "If its okay with you guys, I have some things to talk about with my dad."

"Sure Mack, we should all be getting to bed. It's kind of late." Ronny said.

Ronny, Dax and Will all headed up to their rooms. I headed to the library. _Nothing like a good book to get my mind off of something I don't want to think about._ I thought as I looked over the books. _Hmm, here's one I haven't read for quite a while._ I pulled the book out and sat down, opening the cover.

_You know, this chair isn't _quite_ as comfy as the one downstairs. And it's a shame to read a lovely book in an uncomfy chair. It takes all the pleasure out of it…_ I smiled and went downstairs to the living room. I sat down and prepared to get immersed in the 14th century.

**(A/N: Just thought I'd better explain, Rose is sitting in that room across from Mr. Hartford's office, and she went there after Hartford chased Mack out of the room. FYI, he's still chasing Mack when Rose sits down.**

Suddenly I heard a noise and automatically got to my feet. It was laughter. "Mack! I'm not chasing you across the whole mansion. I've already chased you to the kitchen."

I was still standing when Mack came running into the room. "Rose! Hide me!" He yelled, standing behind me. Hartford came into the room a few minutes later.

"Mack!" He said with a laugh. "What are you doing? Trying to hide from me?"

"Mack? Hiding? Whatever do you mean?" I said with an innocent laugh. _Okay, this would work so much better if he wasn't taller than me. Or wider. Or just bigger in general. Whoa, he just put his hands on my shoulder._

"What, Mack? Hiding behind a woman?" Hartford said with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course he's hiding behind me; he knows I can kick your butt." I said with a grin.

"Is that so, Miss Rose? Well I'll have you know that for the past few months before you became Rangers I've been practicing to become one." He said with a smirk.

"Ah, see there's the difference. You've been practicing to be one, whereas I AM one."

"Yeah dad, Rose is scary when she's mad." _What?_

"What?" I said, turning around with a glare at him.

"Err, I-uh, I mean…"

Hartford laughed. "Looks like I won't need to catch you. Rose will take care of you for me. Don't stay up too late." He said walking back to his office.

I took a step towards Mack. He backed away nervously. "So." I said in a quiet voice. "I'm scary when I'm mad, Mack?"

"Uh, I meant, well…"

"Am I scary now, Mack? Cuz I'm mad." I said in that same quiet voice. Mack looked downright scared.

"Um, n-n-no." Mack backed up into a chair, falling down into it so I was towering above him.

Suddenly I broke out into a grin. "Ah, it's so fun messing with you."

"What?" He leapt from his chair, indignant. "You mean you aren't mad?"

"Nope." I yawned fakely. "Now I am so tired. It's late and I think I'll be getting to bed."

As I ran up the stairs I could hear him yelling my name as he ran after me.


	12. Lights, Camera, DAX!

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, I don't really have an excuse other than work. Oh, and Rangercast dot com can take some of the blame. Since that site started I've been making banners left, right, and centre. Come check it out, under 'Fan Art'. My gallery is called "Back to my drawing board"**

**Anyways, to the story!**

**-----PROO-----**

"Whoa, slow down there chief." Will said with a smile, interrupting Dax's flow of words. _I haven't seen Dax this excited since...come to think of it I've never seen him this excited. Not even when we first became Rangers. _

"Look what I found in Trade Magazine." Dax said with a grin as he pulled out a magazine clipping and started to read. "'New big budget movie, _Nanger Rhumba_, is holding open auditions for handsome actor.' Hello."

_This is just what Dax has always dreamed of. He wants to become an actor so much, this is like a dream come true. Well, if he gets the part, that is._

"'Who can perform his own stunts.'" Dax finished the article. "I'm perfect."

"That's great Dax, but we're kind of in the middle on something important here." Ronny said with a glance at the other Rangers. Dax's face fell. _Way to go Ronny. _"Remember: saving the world. We need you."

"I know," Dax explained, "but it's only a one day shoot. Please." Dax was appealing to Mr. Hartford. _I hope he says yes. After all, it's only one day. We can manage without him for just one day. And it's probably not even the whole day._

"Sorry Dax, but Ronny's right." Hartford said, walking up to Dax. "You're needed here. I'm going to have to say 'no'." He said firmly. Dax looked down at his shoes as he realized what this meant. "Alright Rangers, back to work. We need to find those jewels as soon as possible."

I walked over to Dax and put my hand on his shoulder. "Dax, don't worry about it. There will be lots of other opportunities. Besides, once we save the world they'll be begging to have a hero acting in one of their movies." I smiled at him, trying to cheer him up.

"Yeah, you're right Rose. Don't mind me." He gave me a smile and walked out of the Command Centre. I stood, looking after him.

"He's not a very good actor, is he." A voice came from behind me.

"No, Mack, he's not. He really wanted this acting job."

Mack put his hand on my shoulder, its warmth spreading all throughout my body and causing my mind to go blank. "Don't worry, he'll get his big break soon."

"Yeah. Anyways, I've got to go work out some bugs in our newest weapon." I smiled at Mack and headed towards the stairs. _Of course I had to leave the plans in my room. Of course I had to stay up half the night working on this thing. Oh well, it'll definitely be worth it._

"-flowing through my veins. I've come for the Kakoona Idol, and I won't stop my quest until I have it in my hands." A voice drew me to the rec room. Leaning against the doorjamb I saw Dax reading a script, acting out the part. _He really is a lousy actor._ I thought with a smile. _But he's a great guy._ "Heh, that was pretty good."

"What are you doing?" I said in a sing-song, catching him off guard. It was funny to watch him try to cover up his real actions.

"Nothing!" He denied frantically, then looked at me suspisciously. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"It looks like you're acting." I said walking forward. _Not doing a very good job, but still._

"I was!" He said pointing to the script in his hands. "I was reading the lines for that audition I'm going to miss."

"I know that." I told him with a smile. "I said it looked like you were acting. I read a book by Stilanski _The Art of Acting._ He claims the objective of acting is to not look like you're acting, while acting." _Wow, I just condensed a 600 page book into one sentence. Wait a second, he looks confused. I'll give him a minute to think about it. He's a smart guy, it just takes him a while._

"Uh, good point. But it doesn't matter anyway. Andrew said I couldn't do the job." Dax said walking over beside me and leaning against the couch.

"Yes, but he didn't say you couldn't audition." _I am going to be in so much trouble for this, but hey, this is really getting him down. If he's down then he won't be as focused when we fight. Anything to help the team, right? _"Well, technically he didn't. Dax, I know this is a dream of yours. Do the audition. If they choose you, just say no, you're busy doing something else. It's a win-win situation." _Unless he doesn't get it and becomes even more depressed than he is now._

"Ya think?" Dax said slowly, a light coming into his eyes. "I do the audition, rock their world, they offer me the part, and I just say 'no'." He stood for a few moments, considering the 'plan.' "It's a good idea, Rose. Thank you so much."

"No problem, Dax. You're one of my closest friends and I hate to see you so miserable. Now let's go work on your acting."

We stood beside each other, each of us looking at the script. "Okay Dax, I'll be Strandre.

"'Why don't you just give up? You're never going to get that Idol.'"

"'I will not give up, never as long as the blood is still flowing through my veins. I-'"

"Dax," I interrupted him. "You look like you're acting again. Maybe you're trying to hard. Let's try something different. Think of Strandre as Moltor, who's trying to convince you to stop looking for a jewel. Keep that picture in your mind's eye. Let's try this again."

"'Why don't you just give up? You're never going to get that Idol.'" I said with a taunting tone in my voice

"'I will not give up, never as long as the blood is still flowing through my veins.'" Dax's voice was quiet, yet fierce. "'I've come for the Kakoona Idol, and I won't give up my quest until I have it in my hands.'"

"That was great, perfect, Dax." I said with a smile.

**-----PROO-----**

_Where IS he? The auditions started at 10 and it's already 3. How long does it take?_ My thoughts were interrupted by a beeping sound coming from my Tracker. I ran out of the garage and into the Command Centre. I joined Hartford at the large viewing screen.

"We heard the sensors." Ronny said as she, Mack and Will came sliding down the poles and ran up beside us.

"It's a battle for the Parchment. We need to-" His voice trailed off as he looked around. "Wait, where's Dax?"

"He's, uh," _think Rose, think fast!_ "taking a walk." _Oh great job Rose, that's a perfect excuse. Gee, some genious I am… _"He needed some alone time." _They don't look convinced. _"Actors." I said with a weak smile.

"Fine." Hartford said. _Wow, I can't believe they bought that. _"But grab him on your way out. GO!"

'_Grab him on our way out'? How on Earth are we supposed to do that? I guess I'll just have to tell the other Rangers the truth. Ronny will be pissed._

"Go." Hartford said sharply, reminding me that I had yet to move.

I jumped into the jeep and we took off. "Taking a walk, eh?" Mack said with a little smile.

"Oh, we forgot to grab him. I'll contact him on his morpher." I took out my morpher and spoke. "Dax, get to the beach, hurry. I'll send you the co-ordinates." Shutting off the communication I smiled weakly at Mack. "He's on his way."

**-----PROO-----**

"Dax is trapped in the cave!" Ronny said as we gathered around the entrance.

"Not anymore." Dax said from behind us.

"Dax! How did you get out?" I asked as we all de-morphed.

"There was a hole in the roof, so I just used my DriveVortex. Simple, no? Ah man, I've got to get back!" Dax said as he used his genetic enhancement to jump away.

We walked back to our vehicles and headed back to the mansion. All during the drive my mind was busy. _He got the part! I knew he would, his acting has improved so much _**(A/N: ah, the irony… he didn't even audition!)**_ But now he's actually doing the movie. It's only a one-day shoot. I can stall Hartford for that long, can't I? Oh man, if the other Rangers tell Hartford Dax is sunk. He'll be in so much trouble._

I slowly got out of the jeep and followed Ronny into the Command Centre. "We almost had him, but those slippery slugs slipped away." Ronny burst out as soon as we saw Hartford.

"Where's Dax?" Hartford asked with a frown. _He's not asking about the fight? Oh man, this is not good, this is not good!_

I was frantically searching my brain for a plausible excuse when Mack's voice stopped me. "He's uh, at that-doing that-"

"At the audition." Hartford said sternly. _Great, he's going to be in so much trouble. _"I explicitly told him not to go."

"How did you know?" I asked, pretty sure that I hadn't said or done anything to give him away. _Except for that stupid 'he's taking a walk.'_

"I own the studio that's making that film." _That would explain it. Oh poor Dax! Wait a second, poor me! I'm going to be in as much trouble as Dax is. _"Dax chose to disobey me, and in doing so he disrespected you all." _Wait, what?_

I had to speak up. "Now wait a minute Mr. Hartford. It was Dax's dream to be an actor. He just wanted to audition to see if he was good enough." _Confession time, _"with a little encouragement from - well, a lot of encouragement from me. I'm sorry." And I was. I hadn't thought of it being disrespectful. _Mr. Hartford just doesn't understand._

"Apology accepted. Let's hope Dax realizes what's really important without any encouragement. On that note, let's get to work." Hartford said with a last look at me before turning to the computers.

I slowly walked over to a computer and started work. _Okay, there must have been something on that parchment that led them towards that cave. Well let's look at that cave and see what's special about it._

**-----PROO-----**

_Twenty-seven bathrooms. __**TWENTY-SEVEN!**__ What kind of a house has27 bathrooms? _"Okay Dax, let's split up each floor." We were standing at the top of the stairs, one hall leading to our rooms, the other leading to Hartford, Spencer and the guest bedrooms. "I'll take our half, you take the other half. Meet up here when we're done."

"Right. Wait, how exactly do we clean bathrooms?" Dax said with a confused look in his eye.

"You've never done this before? Okay, come watch me do my first one." I led him over to Will's bathroom. _Might as well do this methodically. Up one side and down the other. _I explained each cleaning utensil to Dax, and showed him how it was done. "Don't forget, we have to clean everything, the bath, toilet, cabinets and the floor."

"Right, I think I've got it. Well, see you in 6 bathrooms." Dax said with a wave as he headed off.

I sighed and headed off to Ronny's bathroom. I pulled off my old rubber gloves, put on a new pair and got to work.

My mind is a very busy place, and when I clean my mind clears. I'm able to empty my mind and stop thinking. It's a relief to be able to do that once in a while. I opened the cabinets to give them a cleaning when I saw something. Inside Ronny's cabinet there was a picture of Will. _Aha, what have we here? Well Ronny Robinson, keeping pictures hidden in your cabinet? Tsk tsk tsk. _I smiled and filed that bit of information away in my head. It'd make good blackmail material.

I quickly finished Ronny's bathroom and headed over to do my own. _Wow, it's so weird to enter by the main door. I'm so used to my bookshelf door._ I had just cleaned my own bathroom yesterday so there wasn't much for me to do. I headed over to Mack's room, suddenly getting nervous. I stood outside his bathroom door and took a breath, and entered. I was greeted by pure white. _Wow Mack's bathroom is clean._ I had just opened the first cabinet when I was interrupted.

"What are you doing, going through my cabinets?" Mack practically yelled. He ran across the room and slammed the door shut.

"Um, I was just about to clean it. Remember, latrine duty."

"Oh, right," Mack looked a little relieved at that. "Anyways, you can just go ahead to the next bathroom now. You don't have to clean my cabinets, they're fine. Now go." He ushered me out of his bathroom and slammed the door.

I walked over to Dax's bathroom in a daze. _What on Earth was that all about?_


	13. Face to Face

**A/N: Once again, sorry for how long it took for me to update. Again: work is my excuse.**

**-----PROO-----**

_I'm exhausted._ I thought as my head nodded a little. _I have to stay awake though, we might need this soon. And it's for Mack… it has to be the best work I've ever done. Well, not that I would do inferior work for any of the others, its just that – it's _Mack. Once again I had to force my eyelids to stay open.

"That's it!" I shouted as I lay down my tools and got up off my knees.

"Is anything the matter Posey?" Spencer said as he walked over and put his hand comfortingly on my shoulder.

"I'm just tired, Spencer. I can barely stay awake."

"I don't wonder at it. You've been working on this for 24 hours straight. You need some rest."

"But-" I started to protest.

"No buts, you know I'm right. In this condition you aren't thinking as clearly as usual, meaning that you're more likely to make mistakes. Mistakes can be fatal. Secondly, what happens if you're called on to fight?"

I hung my head, knowing that he was right. "Okay, I guess I can take a little nap." I gave him a small smile. "You're always right, Spennis."

I walked out of the Zord bay and into the elevator. When I reached the mansion I started stumbling. _Man, this is worse than I thought. I don't know if I'm going to make it._ Starting up the staircase I tripped and started to fall.

"Whoa, Rose, are you okay?"

"Wow, thanks for catching me Mack. I must be more tired than I thought. Spencer kicked me out of the Zord bay so that I could catch up on my sleep. I'm so tired I don't know if I'll make it. I wonder if these stairs would make a comfortable bed." I said looking at the speculatively.

Mack's eyes widened as he raised an eyebrow. The next thing I knew I was in his arms and being carried up the stairs.

_Okay I'm awake now._ "Mack, put me down."

"Not until I see that you're in your room safely. The last thing we need is you stumbling around, falling and cracking your head open. We need you too much."

Those were the last words I heard Mack utter before I succumbed and fell asleep in his arms.

**-----PROO-----**

I woke up to my dark room. Turning over and peering at my clock I saw that the glowing numbers read 5:38pm. "Spencer is going to kill me for being late for dinner." I said as I got up and rushed downstairs.

I skidded down the hallway and through the doors to the dining room. "I'm sorry I'm late." I said as I stood there in the doorway. _Everyone's looking at me funnily._ "What's wrong?" Then I realized what was the matter. I was in my pajamas. I blinked a few times, trying to deduce what might have happened.

"Mack – how did I get in my pajamas?" I looked inquiringly at him, my cheeks heating up at the thought of him-

"Um, I called Ronny and she-" Mack said, his own cheeks red.

"Oh, well if no one minds, I think I'll go rectify the situation." I said, turning to go.

"No you don't, Miss Rose. Dinner is served now." Spencer said sternly.

_Okay, I know we're all friends and all, but I really don't like the idea of sitting around in my pajamas with a bunch of guys around. Okay, next best option. This should be fun._ "All right, Spencer." I sat down at the table and turned myself invisible.

"Rose, stop playing around." Hartford said wearily.

"You won't let me go change, so this is the alternative. It won't bother any of you, will it?" My voice sounded different to my ears.

"Whatever, Rose." Will said. "Can we get eating now?"

All through the dinner I amused myself by making sure that the food I picked up didn't become invisible until it touched my lips. Dax kept staring at my forkfuls of food like a child watching a magician.

"It's been quiet lately, no battles or anything. I wonder if they're planning something." I said, disturbing the quiet of the dinner table.

"Why do we always assume they're planning something?" Ronny wondered.

"Because they usually are," Will said with a smirk.

"I'm just glad, because it gives us time to work on the Sonic Streaker." Hartford said. Tiredness was beginning to show on him as well, and it was beginning to return to me too. _I guess three hours of sleep isn't enough to compensate for 24 hours of not sleeping._

"If you guys don't mind, I think I'll skip the dessert and go back to bed. I'm still quite tired."

"Sure, Rose. You've been working hard. In fact, I don't want you working on it at all tomorrow. Why don't you just relax tomorrow?" Hartford said with a smile.

"Thanks, I think I will." I got up from the table and returned my chair to its normal place. "Mr. Hartford, I hope you don't resent this or anything, but I think you should try and get some sleep tonight. A tired mind makes for fatal mistakes."

"I suppose you're right, Rose. Okay, I promise not to work later than 10:00, okay?"

I smiled, and then realized that no one could see it. "Works for me." I said, trying to work some cheerfulness into my voice. "Anyways, g'night all," I left the room as they called out their respective goodnights.

**-----PROO-----**

I was sitting down reading a book after breakfast, Hartford's words about relaxing filtering through my mind. _I've read this book before. I know what happens. I could be doing something productive right now._ Realizing that it was useless trying to convince myself, I got up and went down to the Command Centre and got the parchment.

I had been staring at the parchment for 15 minutes when I realized something. _Okay, if I haven't gotten it by now then I'm probably not going to get it at all. None of the people on the team have any background in alien languages or codes. Codes, wait!_ I got up and went to develop my idea and tell the others.

"Good news, team." I called out as I approached the rec room. "I think I made some progress in figuring out how to read this parchment." I grinned at them.

"Don't tell me, you looked it up in the Alien-English dictionary?" Ronny teased.

"No," I said, rolling my eyes. "But I called a colleague at the University, Professor Ryan. He's a total genius when it comes to languages and codes. I'm going to take him the parchment to see if he can figure any of it out."

"Sweet!" Dax said. "Hey, can I come along. I've never been to jolly old England."

"Sure." I smiled at Dax's enthusiasm. I was glad that someone was interested in coming along.

"Hey, why don't you take Mack along with you?" Will suggested with a smirk. "He can tell you all about the Sonic Streaker."

Mack looked up eagerly. "Oh, great idea, hey Rose, check it out." Mack jumped up and walked over to us. "The main turbines, right?" He said casually putting an arm on my shoulder. "They can generate over 1,000 horsepower. Or, depending on the altitude it can get up to 1,500 horsepower."

"Actually," I interrupted him. "They can only get up to 1,368 horsepower, and the altitude has nothing to do with it." I grinned at his flabbergasted expression. "Don't look so surprised Mack, I helped create and build it you know."

We piled into the SHARC and headed off to the University.

**-----PROO-----**

"Well, this is it." I said as we stepped out of the SHARC we'd landed on the University's football field.

"So this is where you grew up?" Mack said, looking around in wonderment.

"Yup, I've lived here since I was eight. This way," I said, leading them to the main campus of the University. As I stepped onto the courtyard everyone froze and looked at me. _Okay that's creepy._

"Rose Ortiz? Is that you?" A voice called out from the crowd. He stepped forward and I saw that it was Danny, the Captain of all of the guy's sports teams. "It is you. Great to have you back." He said with a leer at me. _I've never even talked to you in my life. How do you know who I am?_ "So how is being a Power Ranger? I've seen you on the news. You kick monster butt." He winked at me and put his arm around my shoulder.

"Oh, it's nothing. We all do that." I said uncomfortably. His arm was heavy on my shoulders and I wanted it gone. I realized what he was doing of course. He was marking his territory to the hundreds of students that were watching.

"So who are your friends?" He said with a smile at Dax and Mack. _Whoa, Mack looks angry._

"This is Dax Lo, the blue Ranger, and this is Mack Hartford, our leader, the red Ranger."

"Nice to meet you." He said and turned to me, removing his arm from my shoulder in the process. "So, Rose. What brings you back here? I hope you'll be here for a while."

"Actually we're only here for the afternoon." Mack said stiffly.

"Then, Rose," Danny said in his 'charming' voice. "We're going to have to spend a little of that time together."

"Actually we're on a mission and a very tight schedule. Rose doesn't have time to waste with you." Mack said sharply.

"Who said it'd be wasted?" Danny said, glaring at Mack.

"I do. I'm the leader of the team and I say that Rose doesn't have any time to spend with you."

"What?" I said loudly. "How dare you? How dare you both!"

"Huh?" they both turned and looked at me, surprised.

"Danny, how dare you try and pick me up, just because now I'm a Power Ranger. You've never even looked at me twice before now. I don't even want to hear it." I turned to face Mack. "Mack, I know you're our leader, but don't I have a right to say how I want to spend my own time" I said, my voice softer. I couldn't bear to yell at him.

"I know, but this creep-"

"I can take care of myself, in case you didn't know. Or would you like me to prove that to you?"

"Guys, save the fighting for the bad guys." Dax interrupted. "Now Rose, where can we find this Professor Ryan?"

**-----PROO-----**

"I'm sorry, Rose, but without the entire parchment that's all I can tell you." Professor Ryan was telling me as I led him to the door.

"Thank you Professor, you've been a great help. We'll take it from here."

"We're all very proud of you at the University, Rose. I think you're our only alumnus who's gone on to become a real live superhero."

"Maybe when this is all done I can come back and teach a class at it," I grinned at him. "Come on, we'll give you a lift home." I said as I took him to the SHARC. We'd left it on the front lawn so that we didn't have to show the Professor our Command Centre.

I landed on the football field again and showed Professor Ryan down the ramp. "Thanks again. I wish I could stay and talk more, but I've got to get back. We've got to get that parchment back.

"I understand. Good luck!" He called after me as I disappeared into the SHARC.

**-----PROO-----**

"I don't understand it, we've combed every inch of those woods. Mack and that creature are nowhere to be found." Ronny said as we walked into the Command Centre.

"That's because he doesn't want to be found." Hartford told us. "He's turned off his Tracker. _Well that would explain why we couldn't see Mack's energy signal on our Trackers. _"Keep looking team. Spencer, can we speak in my office, privately?"

"Of course, sir." Spencer said, following Hartford out of the room.

We busied ourselves at our various stations, but I knew that if Mack had turned off his Tracker there would be little hope of finding him.

"Still no sign of him." Will said, frustrated.

"If Mack doesn't come back, can I have the Sonic Streaker?" Dax joked.

"How come you get dibs on it?" Ronny protested.

"Relax everyone." _That's right, relax. Mack can take care of himself, and from what I remember Mack trusted the creature. _"Mack is coming back, and when he does the Sonic Streaker is ready for him."

"Hey guys." _Okay, that was freaky._

"See! I told you he'd be back." Dax said with one of their little 'guy shakes.'

"Whoa, how'd be get in here?" Will shouted as I automatically went into a defensive position.

"I let him in." Mack said a little sheepishly. _Well of course you let him in, it's the only way he could have gotten in_. "His name is Tyzonn, and he's a friend."

"I'm sorry about what happened before." Tyzonn said sincerely. "Please forgive me, I never meant to hurt anyone."

Mack walked forward with – the whole parchment? That meant that Tyzonn had given it to him. That was enough for me. "Look dad, he's going to help us find the diamond."

"Well what are we waiting for, Rangers? We've got the parchment back, let's get to work."

"And no one thought to tell me we were expecting a visitor?" Spencer said coldly.

"This is Tyzonn," Ronny introduced.

"He's cool." Will gave his stamp of approval.

"Thank you." Tyzonn said awkwardly.

"Alright, let's get this party started." Dax said as I took the scroll and laid it down on the table.

"Okay, we think we've translated a couple of these symbols." I re-capped. "Mountain and diamond."

"So we know we're looking for the Touru diamond." Mack mused.

"But we don't know what mountain. It could be anywhere on Earth." Will pointed out.

Our discussion was interrupted by Spencer offering Tyzonn some lemonade.

"Lemonade?" Tyzonn asked curiously. _Poor guy, it must be so hard for him._

"It's made from lemons, a citrus fruit we grow here on Earth." I gave what I thought was a good explanation.

"Citrus, I know of this organic acid." Tyzonn took the glass and poured it over the parchment. _Obviously I didn't explain well enough._

"What are you doing?" Ronny's shrieking could be heard over everyone's yells. We watched, fascinated as the lemonade's citric acid ate away at the parchment. I picked it up as soon as I deemed it to be safe and frantically started trying to wipe away the lemonade.

"Wait you guys, look!" Mack said and pointed at the parchment.

_No. Way. _"Numbers." I breathed.

"Of course." Will said as he looked over my shoulder. "The citric acid in the lemonade revealed the hidden information. Nice."

"And this looks like longitude and latitude." I said, handing the parchment to Hartford so that he could see also.

"Maybe it's the location of the mountain we need to go to." Ronny said as she held the parchment.

"That's got to be it." Hartford proclaimed.

"Way to go, Ty." Ronny said with a smile at Tyzonn.

"Okay Rangers, the SHARC is fuelled up and ready to go."

I ran to the SHARC, excited that we'd finally figured it out. _I think having Tyzonn on our team will be a good thing._

**-----PROO-----**

"So that's it, then, huh." Dax said as we all sank into the couches in the rec room. "Tyzonn just leaves?"

"You can't force someone to be on a team, it's something you choose to be a part of. I found that out myself." Will said.

"Did you see the change in him?" Ronny asked me, referring to Tyzonn's true Mercurian form.

"I know," I said with a smile. "He was hot." The guys looked at me strangely.

"He was?" Mack said in a strange voice.

"Didn't you see his eyes? They were silver. Eerie, but beautiful." I said the image of them still in my mind.

"But I thought you had a cru- own!" Dax yelped as Ronny elbowed him in the side.

"So? A girl can change her mind, can't she?" I said with a wink at Ronny.


	14. Man of Mercury

**A/N: looks down, ashamed**

**-----PROO-----**

"Well I don't see why we couldn't have helped him do his mission." Ronny said stubbornly the next morning at the breakfast table.

"Ronny, it was a personal quest," Rose said gently. "It's something someone has to do by themselves. Maybe when his mission is over he'll join us."

"I wonder if I'll ever even see him again. I really liked that guy." Mack said as he took another helping of scrambled eggs, only to be interrupted by the alarm going off.

"Rangers, it would appear that those cat things are at it again: this time in Portugal." Spencer said calmly as he started to clear away the breakfast dishes.

"Let's go, guys!" Mack said as they all rushed to the elevator and headed down into the garage.

**-----PROO-----**

"People are hurt?" Tyzonn asked anxiously. "Let's go too." He said as he started running.

"Yeah, hello! Nice to see you too!" Mack said sarcastically.

"Uh, nice to see you too." Tyzonn replied awkwardly as he started to run again.

"Feisty little alien, isn't he?" Will said as we started to follow.

_So let's see, this brings the count of villains to, let me see._ Rose started to count on her fingers as they walked in the direction of the camp. _Okay, we have Flurious, Moltor, Kamdor, Miratrix, these two guys on one hand, there's the five of us on the other. Can I count Tyzonn?_

"The great genius counting with her fingers? Tsk tsk, what would your students think of you?" Mack grinned teasingly at me as I glared back.

"For you information, I wasn't counting, I was comparing."

"Counting what?" Mack asked curiously.

"On this hand we have the villains, except I don't have enough fingers. On the other hand you have us five. But I was just thinking: can we count Tyzonn?"

Mack shrugged. "He certainly is helping us. I guess it's safe to assume that as long as those two cats are around, he'll be helping us fight them."

"So we're evenly matched then. But I'm not sure how much good that'll do us." I furrowed my brow. "I mean, we can barely beat Moltor with five of us, and now we have even more to worry about?"

"Stop thinking like that, Rose." Mack said sharply. I glanced up in surprise. I'd never heard his voice so harsh. "We are going to win. You know why? Because we can't fail. The entire universe is counting on us to get those jewels first."

I blinked. "Wow, no pressure, Mack." I said sarcastically as we entered the camp.

We saw Ronny and started running towards her and reached her in time to hear her say, "No, I meant what are you doing in Brazil?"

"Saving us from those Fearcats." Mack said as we reached them.

Tyzonn froze and a strange look came into his eye. Will leaned a hand on my shoulder and bent down to whisper. "What's going on?"

"I have no idea," I whispered back. Will stiffened as Ronny went over to Tyzonn. "Jealous, eh?" I grinned at him.

"Of an alien? Pssht, yeah right." Will said with a smirk. I could see the faint worry in his eyes though.

"I have to admit," I couldn't resist teasing him a little. "He is a very handsome alien." Will rolled his eyes as he realized I was teasing him.

**-----PROO-----**

"I sure hope Tyzonn will be okay." I said, worried, as we landed in the city.

"Dad'll fix him up, don't you worry, Rose." Mack smiled as he put a hand on my shoulder. I smiled briefly at him, and then turned away.

Suddenly, we heard a crashing sound with screams following soon after.

"Are those punks back again?" Will groaned.

"We'd better go check it out anyways. Ready?"

"Ready! Overdrive Accelerate!"

**-----PROO-----**

"We did it!" Ronny yelled as we landed, unmorphed, on the pavement beside Tyzonn, who gave her a sickly smile in return.

"Let's get back and celebrate." Mack said as he called the SHARC from his Tracker. It was there within minutes and we got aboard, all of us with silly grins on our faces. "Come on, you too Ty. It's not as if you've never been in it before."

Tyzonn entered the SHARC warily and sat down. "Next stop: Hartford Estate." Ronny called back to us.

"Hey Ronny, can you drop us off by the lake? I feel like running, don't you?" Mack asked us.

"I've certainly got my adrenaline rushing, sure I'll run." I replied as the rest of the team agreed with me.

We all exited the SHARC and started running. _Now that those guys are out of the way, maybe Tyzonn will be joining the team for good. We could sure use a guy like him._ I looked around and noticed that Tyzonn was walking, not running joyously like the rest of us. I slowed down slightly. He was walking and looking at the ground, a slight frown on his face. Shrugging it off I sped up, determined to catch the rest of the team.

**-----PROO-----**

We were all in shock, lost in our own thoughts as Tyzonn left. Ronny was the first to move, running out of the room after him. Will started to get up to follow them but I put my hand on his arm, stopping them. "I think, maybe Ronny will be able to convince him."

Will nodded and sank back into his chair.

A few minutes later Hartford came into the room. "Guys, an alert has come from downtown, the co-ordinates have been sent to your Trackers."

Nodding, we all got up and ran to the garage, running somewhat less joyously that we had earlier that day.

**-----PROO-----**

That night we were all in the rec room, watching Tyzonn as he wandered around the room, picking up little things that, to him, were foreign. "What is this device?" He asked as he picked up a coaster.

"We put it under our drinks, so that it doesn't mess up the table." Mack tried to explain.

Tyzonn still had a confused look on his face. "Why would a small glass mess up a large table?"

I rolled my eyes. "Mack, let me explain." I got up and walked over to Tyzonn and took the coaster from him. "Tyzonn, when water gets on wood, it makes the wood rotten. This table is made from wood. When we have a cold drink, condensation gets on the outside of the glass. Condensation is where water appears on the outside of a glass when the temperature inside the glass is colder than the temperature outside of the glass. If we didn't put the glass down on a coaster, the water from the glass would fall down the side and reach the table, which would ruin it. That's why we have coasters, to protect the table from the water on our glasses."

Tyzonn nodded in understanding. "That makes sense. Thank you Rose, for taking the time to explain all this to me." He smiled widely at me, his silver eyes shining.

"Oh, no problem at all," I smiled back at him. "I can only imagine how confusing everything must be for you. If you ever want to know anything, just come to me and I'll do my best to explain it all to you."

He bowed his head. "I will do so. But don't the others know of these things?" He turned to the group, who were listening. They rolled their eyes.

"Yes we know all these things, but Rose is a teacher so she knows how to explain this better." Ronny said with a smile.

"Rose is a teacher? Is not that job for people who are older?" Tyzonn asked, confused.

"Normally yes, but since Rose here is a genius," Mack smiled widely at me as I bowed my head and blushed a little. "She's done some amazing things."

"Can we please stop talking about me?" I pleaded. "Tyzonn, how do you think you're going to like living here?"

"Call me Ty, please, and I think I'm going to like it very well." He smiled at me and I smiled back.

"We're glad you decided to stay." I said softly.

"Yeah, now that you're on the team, we're definitely going to win. There's no way we can lose!" Dax said excitedly.


End file.
